Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, April 18, 1995 TAG: 9504180132
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: ANN DONAHUE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
The lead investigator for the U.S. Forest Service said Monday that last week's forest fires near Pott's Mountain and Barbours Creek in Craig County were deliberately set.
Woody Lipps, a law enforcement officer for the forest service, said the Cove Mountain fire south of New Castle was not intentionally set but may have resulted from negligence.
Lipps declined to give specifics about suspects or the methods used to start the fires, but said, ``We all have some ideas.''
He urged all people who were in any of these areas before the fires to contact the forest service at 864-5195 or 265-6016. Anonymous tips are permitted, and an answering machine will answer most of the calls to the second number.
``People say, `I didn't see anyone start a fire,''' Lipps said. ``Sometimes, what you didn't see may be as important as what you did see.''
He said all information is helpful because it allows the forest service to eliminate possible theories about the cause of the blazes.
Lipps said arson investigation is a long, demanding process.
``Right now we're in the stage where we are collecting pieces of the puzzle,'' he said. ``I would expect a miracle if we have resolution in a couple of months.''
Lipps said investigators have determined the points of origin for all three fires. He said one method of determining the starting point is to interview the first firefighters at the scene. ``You get them to put it on the map,'' Lipps said.
Even the smallest of details can provide hints as to how to track a fire, he said. Even the scorch found on a snail shell can provide a meaningful clue.
The impact on those who live near the blazes, which burned more than 5,000 acres, worried him most. Nature will take its course and the forest eventually will recover, Lipps said, but burned lands that families bought for recreational use ``may not recover in their lifetimes.''
Lipps' own family was affected by the blaze. Although his home was not in danger, his children still packed bags out of fear.
He said the Cove Mountain fire was closest to private homes and landowners. On Virginia 311, scorched grass can be seen in a ditch right across the road from a residential area. A total of 75 woodland homes were threatened by the fires.
by CNB