Each year The Outer Banks Voice features the lineup for the Outer Banks Homebuilders Association Parade of Homes, starting in Corolla and working south to Manteo. This year's Parade is Oct. 4 to 7. Find out more, including maps, ticket information and sponsors, at obhomebuilders.org/welcome-letter.

Fire activity on the Whipping Creek Fire has been steadily declining over the last few days, thanks in part to better weather over the mainland of Dare and Hyde counties. The fire has been burning since April 18 around Long Shoal River.

While the wildfire burning on the Dare/Hyde mainland has grown to nearly 16,000 acres since it started last week, fire officials say they are not concerned that it will smolder in the nutrient-rich peat soil like others have in recent years.

State investigators have determined that a grass mowing operation along the shoulder of U.S. 264 last week accidentally sparked the wildfire. The road between Stumpy Point and Englehard reopened to traffic Sunday.

Efforts to battle the wildfire burning on the Dare/Hyde mainland received some help from rainfall Friday and Saturday, but forecasts for the early part of the week make it likely the fire will continue to grow.

The Albemarle-Pamlico National Estuary Program announced grants totaling $136,141 for improving the ecosystem of northeastern North Carolina. full story »

Causing flooding unseen in more than 70 years and cutting new inlets across Hatteras Island, Hurricane Irene was the most-viewed story of 2011. full story »

With help from U.S. Fish and Wildlife personnel, other experts around the state and many citizens, 11 UNC students of the Albemarle Ecological Field Site have completed an effort to understand and offer policy suggestions about last summer's Pains Bay Fire. full story »

Smoke from the Great Dismal Swamp drifted over the Outer Banks Monday morning as another heat wave began to settle in. full story »

Small flareups are generating smoke from the Pains Bay fire in the Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge, but officials report it is still well-contained. full story »

More than 5 inches of weekend rain doused northern sections of the Pains Bay fire in the Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge. full story »

While the nearby Pains Bay fire is fully contained two months after it started, smoke and haze on could persist from fires more than 100 miles away. full story »