Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, April 26, 1994 TAG: 9404260119
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RON BROWN and ERIKA BOLSTAD STAFF WRITERS
DATELINE: ORISKANY LENGTH: Medium
"We didn't know they had a fire," said Turner, 74, of Roanoke. "What fire?"
Turner and Harvey, 82, of Salem, on Monday morning were doing just what they've been doing every week for the past 20 years: casting their lines into Craig Creek in hopes of landing "the big one."
"You don't think about anything when you're fishing," said Harvey, who seemed content with two poles in the water and a hunk of chewing tobacco in his jaw. "Time just flies. You don't think about anything else."
About five miles away, along the ridges of Pine Mountain, firefighters were having no such leisurely thoughts. They were battling smoke, heat and gnats as they tried to contain a blaze that had blistered the secluded mountainside.
With heat still escaping from the charred ground, firefighters dressed in protective clothing had to battle the fire as well as temperatures rising into the 90s.
Dale Catron, a U.S. Forest Service firefighter who lugged his chain saw a mile or so up the mountainside, pointed to another adversary.
"When you're sawing into a burning tree, the chain saw will fan the heat back into your face," he said.
That heat was evident, as firefighter Pete Harris stopped to gather cool mountain water in his helmet and pour it over his head to get relief.
Even while battling the heat, firefighters took time to joke about the gnats that swarmed around their faces throughout the day. They said the fire could have been started by a hiker who got fed up with the pesky insects and lit up a "stogie" in self-defense.
Woody Lipps, the fire investigator, ruled out arson. The remote location of the fire made that unlikely. He had a less speculative theory: burning cigarettes or improperly doused campfires. In any case, Lipps said, the fire was accidental.
Firefighters were first called to the scene Sunday about 2:50 p.m. Luckily, calm winds kept the fire from spreading very much.
But unusually dry weather, particularly overnight, worked against the firefighters, and the blaze jumped fire lines several times. Monday afternoon, the fire was pretty much under control.
Forty-member crews from Craig and Botetourt counties, Radford University, Virginia Tech and the U.S. Forest Service shuffled in and out of the site. A helicopter from the Virginia Department of Forestry dumped 4,000 gallons of flame retardant to bring the fire under control.
Betty Saville, who lives several miles away on Virginia 615, said smoke filled the air much of Sunday afternoon. Her husband, Louis, was among the volunteer firefighters who ventured up the mountain in hopes of containing the blaze. He told her the mountain laurel and rocks made the climb difficult.
As the sun went down, the glow of the blaze could be seen peeking over the ridge of the distant mountain. The acrid smoke made breathing difficult.
"If you came outside for very long, you'd start coughing," Saville said.
by CNB