DATE: Thursday, June 26, 1997               TAG: 9706260410

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B11  EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY NAOMI AOKI, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: CHESAPEAKE                        LENGTH:   41 lines

BRUSH FIRE SCORCHES 30 ACRES IN CHESAPEAKE

A brush fire strengthened by drought and wind Wednesday scorched 30 acres of Joe Lambert's 43-acre field, which was freshly planted with soybeans.

The farmland in the 1100 block of Mount Pleasant Road burned for four hours while firefighters struggled in 100-degree heat to keep the blaze from spreading to homes, Battalion Chief G. Michael Best said.

Homes on Corapeake Drive in Albemarle Acres that back up against Lambert's farm were never threatened but the fire did get within 60 yards, Best said.

``A lot of the residents were standing in their back yards, and some were getting a little anxious,'' he said. ``We did all we could to allay their fears, but when you see a wall of flames, it's hard to listen.''

No one was injured in the fire, which started about 10 a.m., Best said. The cause is being investigated.

Lambert, who heard about the fire a few hours after it started, will have to hope his crop comes up.

``It could've been worse,'' Lambert said Wednesday night. ``We could have lost the wheat crop.''

Lambert cut wheat from the field last week and replanted with soybean seeds. The seeds were planted 4 inches down in the soil. Lambert dug up some seeds after the fire and couldn't see any damage, he said.

In about a week, he'll know for sure. In the meantime, Lambert said, he is hoping for good luck and rain.

``Thirty acres - that's a right good size of land,'' he said. ``That would be a loss because we'd have to repurchase seed, get out there and plant it all over again.''

The seeds cost about $11 a bushel, and the soybeans sell for about $7 a bushel, Lambert said. He planted 30 bushels in the 30 acres that burned.

Best said seven fire trucks and five brush trucks were needed along Corapeake Drive and in the field until 2 p.m. to put out the flames, which had spread among what was left of the harvested wheat plants.

``The wind kept shifting and pushing the fire in different directions, and, in a dry wheat field, it doesn't take much for a fire to burn,'' Best said. KEYWORDS: FIRE

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