Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, April 11, 1995 TAG: 9504110144
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: CATHRYN McCUE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Monday night, the firefighters still were spelling each other on round-the-clock shifts to push back the flames, which had scorched 4,670 acres on three mountain ridges.
They used every tool available - bulldozers, shovels, rakes, airplanes, helicopters, fire trucks, chemical fire retardants, leaf blowers and garden hoses - trying to contain the fire and protect dozens of homes along Virginia 311 and 621.
"It was an awesome sight," said Chris Thomsen, district forester with the Virginia Department of Forestry. "It was just fire everywhere."
The blaze was made up of three separate fires. Officials suspected that at least two of them were started by arsonists.
"Where the fire starts tells you a lot," said Bob Boardwine, who heads the New Castle Ranger District of the George Washington and Jefferson National Forests. The fires on Potts and Bald mountains started "right in a ditch by the road," Boardwine said.
"If they catch 'em, don't take 'em to jail. Bring 'em to me. We'll make sure it never happens again," he added.
Thomsen said the Cove Mountain fire started along the Appalachian Trail deep in the woods, probably the result of a tossed cigarette, untended fire or other carelessness.
The fires all are under investigation.
Bob Miller came up from the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in Tennessee as part of an "interagency management team" of federal land managers who respond to forest fires around the country. More than 400 people were on the scene by Monday, and a couple hundred more - from meteorologists to cooks - were coming or on call.
"We're not out of the woods yet," he said - literally. The crews scrape wide paths in the dirt to create a fuel-free zone around the fire. They also use roads, streams and other natural features as fire breaks. Depending on the terrain and other conditions, they set fires that burn toward the wild fires, and they eventually burn each other out.
State and federal officials have sent out warnings for weeks that conditions are perfect for rip-roaring blazes. It's dry out there, really dry, and fallen branches from last year's devastating ice storm are now dead. And dried out.
Over the weekend, the wind picked up. Once ignited, the fires quickly burned out of control. At times, the flames reached 50 feet, said Thomsen, who worked the Cove Mountain fire through the night Sunday, going home after 18 hours on the line.
For the most part, the fires swept over land owned by the U.S. Forest Service. But flames strayed onto private land, burning about 150 acres and threatening up to 60 homes. All were apparently out of danger Monday afternoon.
Elsewhere in the state, 39 other fires burned at least 550 more acres of privately owned land, said Lou Southard, spokesman for the state Forestry Department. None of those hot spots grew beyond a couple hundred acres.
Sixty-five Franklin County residents were temporarily evacuated Sunday night as local fire departments fought a 150-acre blaze in the Doe Run community. The fire was contained within a few hours and the residents returned home.
The state has received $3 million in federal aid specifically for firefighting equipment and fire prevention campaigns because of the conditions created by the ice storm damage, Southard said.
"It's just like kindling on the forest floor," he said. His agency predicted the fires would burn eight times hotter than a normal fire, and cover triple the area.
Weather conditions are expected to be similar today, with temperatures in the 60s with relatively high humidity. Winds, which may reach 15 mph, may spread the fire and slow containment efforts.
Staff writers Dwayne Yancey, Lisa Applegate and Breea Willingham contributed to this story.
by CNB