Firefighters closed about 20 miles of the Blue Ridge Parkway in Bedford County, up to the Peaks of Otter Lodge, as they contained a forest fire on Tuesday, the U.S. Forest Service said. No buildings or people were at risk.

Crews closed the parkway between mileposts 66 and 85 while they mobilized to contain the 217-acre fire, which apparently started when a spark flew off a tractor mower on Monday, said Michael Williams, a Forest Service spokesman.

The blaze was in an area on the Bedford/Rockbridge county line called the Thunder Ridge Wilderness, west of the parkway's milepost 73, about 15 miles north of the city of Bedford and 6 miles west of Big Island, Williams said.

Roughly 50 firefighters, including a specialized Forest Service team, were deployed on Tuesday and contained about 30 percent of the perimeter, Williams said. They did not start Monday, after the blaze was reported about 3 p.m., because of conditions.

"It was burning pretty intensely. It was not safe to go and attack," Williams said.

Forest Service crews were also fighting six fires south of Waynesboro, totaling about 600 acres in flames, Williams said. They were expecting rain to help their efforts today.

-- Jorge Valencia