Dare County Newsletter - July 2024

All Dare County offices and facilities will be closed on Thursday, July 4, 2024 in observance of Independence Day. These offices and facilities will reopen and operate under their regularly scheduled hours on Friday, July 5, 2024. To ensure the safety of yourself, your family, your pets and your property this Independence Day, please plan on leaving the patriotic pyrotechnics to the professionals and enjoying one of the four local fireworks shows that are scheduled to take place in various locations throughout Dare County! 

2024 Outer Banks Fireworks Shows — Thursday, July 4, 2024

• Downtown Manteo (George Washington Creef Park) — 9:15 p.m.
  (104 Fernando Street in Manteo) 
• Avalon Pier in Kill Devil Hills — 9:15 p.m.
  (2111 N. Virginia Dare Trail in Kill Devil Hills)
• Nags Head Fishing Pier — 9:25 p.m.
  (3335 S. Virginia Dare Trail in Nags Head) 
• Avon Fishing Pier — 9 p.m.
  (41001 N.C. Highway 12 in Avon) 

Dare County wishes all of our residents, property owners and visitors a safe and fun holiday! For more information about fireworks safety—including local rules and regulations—please click the button below or click here to watch a video on Dare County’s YouTube channel.

Dare County, in partnership with the Town of Kill Devil Hills, will host a ribbon cutting ceremony to celebrate the recent completion of the new 36,000-square-foot building that will serve as Dare County EMS Station 1 and Kill Devil Hills Fire Department Station 14 beginning at 3 p.m. on Monday, August 5, 2024. Following the ribbon cutting ceremony, an open house will be held until 7 p.m., providing members of the community with the opportunity to take self-guided tours of the new facility, which is located at 1628 N. Croatan Highway in Kill Devil Hills (Dare County EMS Station 1) and 1630 N. Croatan Highway in Kill Devil Hills (Kill Devil Hills Fire Department Station 14).  

In addition to self-guided tours, the open house will also feature ambulance and fire apparatus displays, "Stop the Bleed" training, "Hands Only" CPR training, free blood pressure checks, and various handouts and children's activities provided by Dare County EMS and Kill Devil Hills Fire Department staff members. Light refreshments will also be served.  

Located in the heart of Kill Devil Hills, Dare County EMS Station 1 is responsible for providing service to one of the busiest and most populated areas of the Outer Banks—and due to this high demand and need for a rapid response to emergency calls, the replacement of this particular facility has been a top priority for Dare County. A groundbreaking ceremony was held at the site of the new facility on May 10, 2023, and construction will be completed this month.   

The new facility in Kill Devil Hills is the third and final station included in Phase 1 of Dare County’s multiphase project through which outdated EMS facilities will be modernized in order to better serve the residents and visitors of our community. For more detailed information about past projects—as well as projects that are currently underway as part of Phase 2 or scheduled to take place in future phases—please click the button below.

As the official start of summer approaches and beach outings become more frequent, it's crucial to remember to prioritize safety and practice preparedness. Dare County reminds beachgoers of the importance of knowing your exact location so local first responders can reach you quickly and provide assistance if an emergency occurs. 

Why Knowing Your Location Matters

In an emergency, every single second counts. While you may think you can rely on your phone’s GPS to provide your exact location—or that you can simply relay the name of your beach house to 911 telecommunicators when you call for help—these methods are often unreliable. 

911 telecommunicators and first responders are not equipped with the names and corresponding addresses of the thousands of houses on Dare County beaches—many of which change owners (and therefore names and rental companies)—quite frequently. This makes it virtually impossible for someone using this method to call for help to be located quickly in an emergency. Additionally, cell phone GPS systems can be imprecise and unreliable, which can also create delays for first responders who are trying to reach you promptly.

“Providing accurate and pertinent information to 911 telecommunicators about your location—as well as the nature of your emergency—also helps them to provide first responders with all of the information they need in order to respond in the proper manner, bring the proper equipment to assist you, and be mentally and physically prepared to address the situation when they arrive on scene,” says Captain Jack Scarborough, who serves as communications director for the Dare County Sheriff’s Office 911 Communications Center in Manteo.

Know Your Exact Address: If you are staying in a vacation rental home, make sure everyone in your party knows the physical address of the home and where to find this information in an emergency. Writing it down and hanging it on the refrigerator or another prominent spot that’s easy to access in an emergency is recommended, as is saving the address in your cell phone so you can pull it up quickly if an emergency occurs when you’re outside the house and enjoying the beach. 

Identify Nearby Landmarks: If you aren’t staying in a rental home right along the beachfront, familiarize yourself with prominent landmarks near your location, such as lifeguard stands, beach access signs with street names, ORV ramp numbers and other distinctive structures, including large hotels or condo complexes, water towers and fishing piers. These can help you describe your location more accurately to 911 telecommunicators if you need emergency assistance but don’t know the exact address of your location.

Take Note of the Direction Taken: Don’t forget to also take note of whether you turned left or right to head north or south when walking over the dunes at a named beach access on the northern beaches or a numbered ORV ramp along the Cape Hatteras National Seashore. Having this information ready to relay to 911 telecommunicators can help them pinpoint your location during an emergency and may shave precious seconds—or even several minutes—off the time it takes first responders to arrive on scene, which could ultimately help save a life!

July 31, 2024 is National Lifeguard Appreciation Day, and Dare County encourages everyone to show their support and gratitude for those who work hard to keep us safe while we enjoy a day in the sun, surf and sand this season! 

Be sure to check in with the lifeguard on duty when you arrive at the beach each day to learn about potential dangers such as rip currents or marine activity at your access. Local lifeguards are trained to identify these hazards and can provide you with important information that will help keep you safe. When enjoying the beaches of the Outer Banks, always swim at a lifeguarded beach, ask about conditions before entering the water, and follow any and all instructions given by the lifeguard located at your access.

Need help finding a beach access with a lifeguard stand this summer? Dare County has you covered! Click the button below to locate guarded beaches in the towns of Duck, Southern Shores, Kitty Hawk, Kill Devil Hills and Nags Head, as well as the Cape Hatteras National Seashore. Live like a local: Love the Beach, Respect the Ocean!

1. Anyone Can Ride (For Any Reason!): The Dare County Transportation System provides ride-by-appointment transportation services to all Dare County residents and visitors—anyone can ride for any purpose!* Whether you have a medical appointment outside of Dare County or your car is in the shop and you simply need to schedule a ride to work, the Dare County Transportation System offers affordable and reliable transportation services to everyone in our community.  

Transportation to any location within Dare County is available Monday through Friday from 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. for everything from shopping and recreation to doctor visits, haircut appointments, daily work commutes and more. In addition to providing local trips, transportation to several communities outside of Dare County is also available on select days for medical appointments only. The Dare County Transportation System currently has a fleet of nine transit vans, the majority of which are outfitted with wheelchair lifts to provide service for passengers with mobility issues. 

*Please note that a 48-hour advance notice is required for all trips and that all appointments are scheduled on a first-come, first-served basis. Transportation is not provided on weekends or on holidays that are observed by Dare County. 

2. Fares Are Very Affordable: Dare County Transportation System vehicles are operated by two full-time drivers and 17 part-time drivers who provide an affordable option for travel.

• In-County Trips: One-way trips within Dare County cost $3 per passenger or $6 per passenger for a round trip.
• Out-of-County Trips: Transportation outside of Dare County—which is available for medical trips only—costs $7 per passenger for a one-way trip and $14 per passenger for a round trip.

3. Medical-Only Trips to Neighboring Communities Are Available: Transportation to locations outside of Dare County is available for medical appointments only in several neighboring communities, including Elizabeth City, Greenville, Chapel Hill and Durham (Duke University) in North Carolina, as well as Chesapeake, Virginia Beach, Norfolk and Hampton (veterans hospital) in Virginia. 

• Greenville: Transportation to medical appointments in Greenville is provided on the second and fourth Wednesday of each month.
• Chapel Hill and Durham (Duke University): Transportation to medical appointments in Chapel Hill and at Duke University in Durham is provided on the third Wednesday of the month.  
• Elizabeth City, Chesapeake, Norfolk, Virginia Beach and Hampton: Transportation to medical appointments in Elizabeth City, Chesapeake, Norfolk, Virginia Beach and Hampton is provided on Tuesdays and Thursdays each week. 

4. Discounts Are Available: Riders can receive a 15 percent discount when they purchase their fare ticket books in advance. Each fare ticket book contains 10 tickets and can be purchased in person at the Dare County Transportation System office (Dare County Administration Building, 954 Marshall C. Collins Drive in Manteo) or by telephone (252-475-5640).  

5. Local U.S. Veterans Can Ride for Free! U.S. veterans who have a Dare County Veteran I.D. card can ride for free. For more information or to obtain a Dare County Veteran I.D. Card, please click here or contact Dare County Veterans Services Officer Patty O’Sullivan at Patricia.O’Sullivan@DareNC.gov or 252-475-5604.

Dare County, in partnership with Current TV, has released a new video that highlights the wide array of resources, programs, activities and services the county provides to seniors throughout our community!

Learn more about the many unique arts and crafts workshops and fitness classes that are offered at the Thomas A. Baum Senior Center in Kill Devil Hills, Virginia S. Tillett Community Center in Manteo and the Fessenden Center in Buxton, as well as the various home-delivery services that are available, including nutritious meals for homebound seniors and library home visits for Dare County Library patrons!

The video also features some of the services provided by the Dare County Transportation System, which include affordable and reliable transportation for trips to medical appointments both inside and outside Dare County. To learn more about the programs and services that Dare County provides to the seniors in our community, please click the button below to watch the video on Dare County’s YouTube channel.

Meet Teddy!

Meet Teddy, our Outer Banks SPCA Pet of the Week! Teddy is a spunky 6-year-old boy who absolutely loves car rides, walking on the beach, sunbathing and playing with his big stuffed toys! Teddy gets along well with older, calmer dogs, and he is also housetrained and a very good boy in his kennel.

Stop by the Dare County Animal Shelter, located at 378 Airport Road in Manteo, to meet Teddy, and click here to watch a video produced by Current TV.

For more information about the Outer Banks SPCA, please visit www.OBXSPCA.org or call 252-475-5620!

Outer Banks SPCA Adoption Hours:

Monday to Friday: 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. (closed from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. for naptime)
Saturday & Sunday: By appointment only