Background: Smokehouse Valley Farm, Orange County, N.C. (WRAL/YouTube). Insets, left to right: Smokehouse Valley Farm owner Dwight B. Poole, items from a May 2, 2025, party at Smokehouse Valley Farm (WRAL/YouTube).
A party at a North Carolina farm reportedly spiraled out of control, drawing a crowd of thousands and leading to numerous emergency 911 calls that potentially put lives at risk.
On May 2, what appeared to be a huge gathering took place on a privately-owned, 30-acre farm in northern Durham County, according to local NBC affiliate WRAL. The station reviewed 911 calls from that evening, revealing growing concerns from both attendees and nearby residents — particularly as some realized they could not leave and faced medical emergencies.
“This is so scary,” one caller said, according to WRAL. “My sister is having contractions … there are six or seven cars blocking my driveway from leaving my home right now, and I have no way out of here … I have never seen a party like this in my whole life.”
Police reportedly said that around 70 emergency calls were made regarding the party, and an estimated 2,500 people were in attendance. According to WRAL, the location often serves as a weekend party spot for hundreds of students from Duke University.
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Additional calls included complaints from neighbors who weren’t able to sleep due to all the noise, a complaint about people in the road, and reports of someone having an asthma attack as well as reports of an unconscious person on the property.
More than 25 police officers and first responders went to the farm that night, and several people were taken to area hospitals.
“Attendees parked along both sides of the road, blocking the flow of traffic,” Orange County Sheriff Charles Blackwood said, according to the statement. “They obstructed driveways, left automobiles in the yards of neighboring property owners, and intoxicated individuals wandered between vehicles snarled in traffic. Many partygoers were underage, and people drove away from the event despite being significantly under the influence of intoxicating substances. Others were so impaired they passed out along the roadway.”
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“Responding law enforcement officers and medical first responders had great difficulty reaching those in need of assistance,” the sheriff also said, adding that “this gathering was of such a size and scope that the overall risk to attendees, community residents, and first responders was alarmingly high.”
Days after the party, Smokehouse Valley Farm owner Dwight B. Poole, 60, was arrested, the Orange County Sheriff’s Office wrote in a Facebook post. He faces six counts of aiding and abetting people under the age of 21 to consume alcohol, the sheriff’s office said.
Poole has previously been the focus of attention due to activity on the farm. In 2018, an 18-year-old was killed on the property, and at the time, he told WRAL that he didn’t take any responsibility for what happened.
Under North Carolina law, aiding and abetting getting alcohol for people under 21 carries a $500 fine and 25 hours of community service.
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