KENANSVILLE, N.C., — The North Carolina Forest Service has a new home for their eastern aviation hub. They've been in Kinston since the 1940s, but decided it was time for a larger space.

What You Need To Know

  • The North Carolina Forest Service is moving their Eastern Aviation Hub to Duplin County Airport

  • They were at the old location at Kinston Regional Jetport for 75 years

  • The new facility is twice the size to keep up with their growing fleet

  • There will be a ribbon cutting ceremony on Thursday

Robert Delleo says he has one of the most exciting jobs he could ask for. He's a pilot for the North Carolina Forest Service. That means his main job is fighting fires from the air. Delleo loves his job and says he'd probably be retired if he didn't do this.

“I've had jobs in my life where I was on the ground and wish I was in the air,” Delleo said. “I don't think, there's never been one time, I think, where I was in the air and wish I was on the ground. It's exciting and typically it's just another day in the office when we're out flying.”

When these planes are not in the air, they have to be stored somewhere. For the past 75 years, that place has been Kinston Regional Jetport. Now, the forest service is modernizing their planes. That means they're getting bigger, faster and more reliable ones.

“Many years ago, we had towers and somebody stood in that tower all day long and looked for smoke,” Delleo said. “Nowadays, it's much more efficient to fly an airplane around and look for smoke.”

Delleo says they outgrew their space in Kinston. So when their lease ran out at the end of 2020, they moved to Duplin County Airport. Their brand new facility is double the size, has two hangars and a new office building. The Forest Service moved in at the beginning of February.

“It's like bees in a hive,” Delleo said. “The bees leave in the morning and pollinate all day long and then they go back to the hive. And thats what our pilots do.” 

Delleo says the new location won't make a significant impact on the planes' response time to surrounding counties. The Duplin County Airport commission will host a ribbon cutting ceremony to welcome the North Carolina Forest Service on Thursday.