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#Post#: 152--------------------------------------------------
ACRES IN N.C.. BURN
By: wolfie Date: February 15, 2011, 2:56 am
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By JOHN HINTON
Published: February 14, 2011
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A forest fire in the Lowgap community in northwestern Surry
County had burned more than 100 acres tonight and remains out of
control, authorities said. No one had been injured.
In the western part of the state, a fire in Chimney Rock State
Park had burned 500 acres and spread from Polk County into
Rutherford County as wind and steep terrain hampered
firefighters.
The Surry County fire started shortly after 4:15 p.m. along
Lumber Plant Road, off N.C. 89, said John Shelton, Surry
County's emergency medical services director. There are several
homes on the road, but residents hadn't been evacuated.
About 100 volunteer firefighters in Surry, Alleghany and Wilkes
counties were working to contain the fire and protect nearby
homes and businesses, he said. Six firefighters with the N.C.
Division of Forest Resources also were at the scene.
"Right now, firefighters can't put out the fire," said Lee
Burwell, a regional ranger for the forest resources division.
Two plows prepared a fire break and removed debris from the
ground that would fuel the fire, he said.
"That is all they can do at the moment because the wind is
pushing the fire," Burwell said.
Authorities don't know how the fire started. They are calling it
the "Lumber Plant Road Fire."
The National Weather Service had issued a wind advisory and a
red-flag warning Monday for the foothills and Piedmont of North
Carolina and Virginia, including Surry County. Strong westerly
winds that gusted up to 50 mph and low humidity created
conditions conducive to brush or forest fires. The Triad also
has moderate drought conditions.
Shelton said the forest service planned to drop a chemical fire
retardant tonight after the fire reaches the top of Lowgap
Mountain near Alleghany County. The fire would burn several
hundred more acres to reach that area.
There are no houses or businesses in the path of the fire, which
was moving west, Shelton said.
Wind gusts were expected to slow to 20 mph by 1 a.m. Tuesday and
10 mph by 3 a.m., which will make it safer for firefighters to
put out the fire, said Richard Chellberg, an official with the
forest resources division in Lexington.
In 2000, arson led to two fires that started in the Lowgap area
and burned about 730 acres of mountain timber in North Carolina
and Virginia before it was contained. There were no injuries or
deaths.
In the fire in an undeveloped section of Chimney Rock State
Park, wind and cliffs with peaks of up to 3,000 feet hampered
firefighting efforts, and the safety of firefighters was a
concern, State Fire Information Officer David Brown said today.
About 80 firefighters worked the blaze, and state helicopters
dropped water onto the area. Firefighters were standing by to
protect a half-dozen or so threatened homes near the Sunny View
community and a few homes southwest of Lake Lure, Brown said.
The fire started Saturday about 4 p.m. on private property near
the Worlds Edge overlook in Polk County. The fire's origin
remains under investigation.
jhinton@wsjournal.com
(336) 727-7299
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
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