DATE: Wednesday, July 23, 1997              TAG: 9707230653

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B5   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY LEWIS KRAUSKOPF, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: CHESAPEAKE                        LENGTH:   67 lines

FIREFIGHTERS PUT OUT BLAZE SMOLDERING A WEEK FIRE ALLOWED TO BURN OUT OF CONCERNS OVER SAFETY, ENVIRONMENT, INSPECTOR SAYS.

Firefighters put out a blaze Tuesday that had ravaged a salvage yard near a Virginia Power facility and had been smoldering for nearly a week.

When the blaze began as a brush fire and spread to the yard Wednesday, at least 36 firefighters were called to the scene.

But officials allowed the fire to burn once it hit the yard, which contained various auto parts and scrap metal, because of safety and environmental concerns, said fire inspector Greg Orfield.

The fire also destroyed a house in the yard, occupied by the yard's owner, Thomas Barber.

``I lost everything I got,'' said Barber, who said he has insurance on the house but not the yard.

Eight hogs and two roosters in the yard were unharmed, Barber said.

The fire began about 1:30 p.m. Wednesday after an overheated power line fell into a field next to Steel Street and sparked the brush fire, officials said.

Shifting winds and dry conditions caused the fire to spread quickly to the next-door Barber Iron and Metal yard between Military Highway and Interstate 64, Orfield said.

The yard contained about 200 metal compressed-gas cylinders that began exploding once the fire moved in, Orfield said.

At that time - around 3 p.m. - fire officials pulled firefighters back to the yard's entrance, directed an unmanned hose into the fire and confined the fire to the yard, Orfield said. The fire calmed down around 10 p.m. Wednesday, fire officials said.

Since then, one firefighter at a time with a truck had been on 24-hour surveillance outside the yard, watching the fire and warding off anyone who might want to enter the yard, Orfield said. The yard is still off limits.

A secondary concern in allowing the fire to smolder was water pollution, Orfield said. The yard contained petroleum-based products, and continuing to flush the fire with water could have allowed the runoff from the fire to seep into the adjacent wetlands or nearby Elizabeth River. This outweighed air pollution concerns, he said.

Officials of the state Department of Environmental Quality didn't see any damage to the wetlands or runoff into the river, said Milt Johnston, the waste compliance manager. Johnston wouldn't comment further because of fire officials' ongoing investigation.

Members of three environmental consulting firms surveyed the site Tuesday to give Barber an estimate on how much a site assessment for a cleanup would cost.

Orfield said there would be a cleanup, and cited batteries, and lead and petroleum-based products in the yard as hazardous waste. The contents of 50 other barrels in the yard were unknown Tuesday, Orfield said.

Barber has until Friday to sign a contract for a site assessment, or he could face charges, Orfield said.

In addition to the gas cylinders in the yard, which is surrounded by power lines, an electrical storm Wednesday night posed safety concerns. One firefighter was struck by lightning but was not seriously hurt. ILLUSTRATION: Photo

MORT FRYMAN/The Virginian-Pilot

Thomas Barber, center, asks a question of fire inspector Greg

Orfield, right, of the Chesapeake fire marshal's office. Barber, the

salvage yard's owner, said, ``I lost everything I got.'' The fire

also destroyed a house in the salvage yard occupied by Barber. He

has insurance on his home.

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