
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, April 7, 1995                   TAG: 9504070033
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B-1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: ANN DONAHUE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

RECIPE FOR A FOREST FIRE

It's been a bad week for forest fires in Virginia. The dry weather, combined with woods littered with dead limbs and trees downed during the 1994 ice storms, has turned forest floors into tinder boxes.

Once fires have started, they're spread easily - fanned by winds that have reached 40 mph. The worst fires have been in Nelson and Page counties. Those fires have abated, but the fire hazard hasn't - and there's no rain in the immediate forecast.

Wednesday was the worst day for fires in Virginia this year. On April 5, 33 fires burned 1,728 acres. Don't burn anything outdoors, says Salem District Forester Chris Tomsen. "There's no reason people should be burning."

by CNB