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Wildfires burn 350 acres in county

By Rose Hooper

Wildfires burning in Western North Carolina include some 350 acres of the Nantahala National Forest in Jackson County.

Lloyd Green with the N.C. Forest Service received the first fire call at 2:10 a.m. Friday, Nov. 20, and immediately notified the U.S. Forest Service. "In the beginning, we thought it was just one fire," said Green, who was first to respond to the scene, "but turns out it was two."

According to Erin Brock, district ranger with the U.S. Forest Service, one fire started burning on the Wayehutta side, while another burned on the Moses Creek side. "The two fires came together at Locust Gap," Brock said.

A resident of Kitchens Branch, who could see the fire in a distance from her front porch, said "it looked like a row of Christmas lights the way it was burning in such a straight line." Some smoke still remained Monday in the interior of the lines but didn't pose a hazard at that time. "We're still monitoring and checking it," Brock said. "Until we get some rain, high gusts of wind could change this situation."

Firefighters were able to reach the fire from Forest Service access roads on Moses Creek and from four-wheeler ATV trails on Wayehutta, Green said.

"Actually, it was some of those four-wheeler trails that helped contain the fire on that side," he said. The Forest Services contracted air support, ranging from helicopters carrying 250 gallons of water to air tankers carrying up to 2,400 gallons of water, to help battle the blazes. The cause of the fire is still under investigation, Brock said.

Back to Archive: 11-25-99.