Thursday, November 29, 2007
Crews extinguish brush fire on Catawba Mountain
A small brush fire on Catawba Mountain has been extinguished, with firefighters keeping an eye on a few hot spots.
The one-acre brush fire on Catawba Mountain near McAfee Knob was spotted around 6 a.m., Roanoke County Fire and Rescue spokeswoman Jennifer Conley Sexton said. The fire was on the west side of Virginia 311 in Roanoke County and on the ridge directly above Duck Pond Road off Bradshaw Road.
Firefighters had to hike a mile on the Appalachian Trail to get to the fire and then dug a line around it to contain it, Conley Sexton said. In addition to a helicopter that dropped water on the blaze, they used an all-terrain vehicle with a 50-gallon water tank to douse the hot spots.
The Virginia Department of Forestry and the U.S. Forest Service also helped because the land is part of the Jefferson National Forest.
The fire probably started on private property and then spread up the mountain to the national forest land, Conley Sexton said. No structures were damaged by the fire and there is no known cause at this time, she added.
The one-acre brush fire on Catawba Mountain near McAfee Knob was spotted around 6 a.m., Roanoke County Fire and Rescue spokeswoman Jennifer Conley Sexton said. The fire was on the west side of Virginia 311 in Roanoke County and on the ridge directly above Duck Pond Road off Bradshaw Road.
Firefighters had to hike a mile on the Appalachian Trail to get to the fire and then dug a line around it to contain it, Conley Sexton said. In addition to a helicopter that dropped water on the blaze, they used an all-terrain vehicle with a 50-gallon water tank to douse the hot spots.
The Virginia Department of Forestry and the U.S. Forest Service also helped because the land is part of the Jefferson National Forest.
The fire probably started on private property and then spread up the mountain to the national forest land, Conley Sexton said. No structures were damaged by the fire and there is no known cause at this time, she added.
