THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, July 23, 1995 TAG: 9507210229
SECTION: SUFFOLK SUN PAGE: 04 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY SUSIE STOUGHTON, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: SUFFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 53 lines
Four days before a brush fire broke out near Whaleyville last Wednesday, many of the city's volunteer firefighters prepared for such a fire.
They learned how to plow a fire line - a 3-foot-wide path to contain the blaze by cutting down to the bare dirt, which doesn't burn. They found that setting a back fire can burn out the original blaze, and they learned to protect themselves and others nearby.
Their training paid off at the city's worst ``wild land fire'' of the year, when 500 acres of cut-over forest land off Copeland Road caught fire.
``They got a good taste of it yesterday,'' Suffolk Fire Department's Lt. Jeff Messinger, one of the class instructors, said on Thursday.
Each of the volunteer departments - Whaleyville, Holland, Chuckatuck and Driver - sent firefighters to assist the crews from the downtown fire headquarters and the Division of Forestry. Nansemond-Suffolk Rescue Squad rotated the firefighters through the ``re-hab area,'' giving them fluids and checking their vital signs before sending them back to the scene.
Some firefighters were treated for blisters, and some had cuts and scratches from going through the woods.
``It was minor,'' Messinger said. ``That's nothing for us. It's part of the job.''
But fighting such a fire for five or six hours is especially draining, especially in heavy, protective gear in extremely hot weather.
``It saps you,'' Messinger said. ``You have to pace yourself. You can dehydrate quickly.''
The firefighters work in teams ``so we don't lose anybody in the woods,'' he said.
Residents of 15 houses nearby were warned they might have to leave if the fire got closer. A shelter was set up at Kilby Shores Elementary School, but no one had to be evacuated despite a southwest wind that was pushing the fire toward them.
Firefighters prevented it from reaching the houses on Copeland and Carolina roads. But heavy smoke reduced visibility and made it hard to breathe.
About 40 firefighters stayed on the scene until about 9 p.m., when the fire was considered under control. A crew remained during the night to make sure the fire didn't flare up again.
``It could have been a lot worse,'' Messinger said. ILLUSTRATION: Photo by GARY KNAPP
Five hundred acres of cut-over forest land off Copeland Road kept
firefighters busy until 9 p.m. last Wednesday.
by CNB