Copyright 2006 Tribune Review Publishing Company
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By PAUL PEIRCE
Tribune-Review (Greensburg, PA)
A stubborn brush fire on Derry Ridge kept more than two dozen firefighters and crews from the state Bureau of Forestry busy for more than four hours Sunday.
The fire burned 5 to 7 acres in a rural area off Twin Maples Road in Derry Township before crews were able to bring it under control shortly before 4 p.m., according to Westmoreland County Public Safety Department spokesman Dan Stevens.
The fire was discovered about 12:57 p.m.
“They were very concerned because there is an old wood slab pile up there, in an area where trees had been stripped off an area a few years ago,” Stevens said.
Crews from the bureau of forestry were using a bulldozer about 5 p.m. to cut a ring around the outside edge of the smoldering blaze to keep it from spreading.
Tanker trucks hauled water to a portable reservoir erected near the site and firefighters ran about 1,000 feet of hose to transport water from the reservoir to the fire.
No injuries were reported. It was undetermined how the fire started.
Firefighters and tanker trucks from Blairsville, Bradenville, Darlington, Derry, Eastern Derry, Lloydsville, New Alexandria Waterford, Whitney and Wilpen were on the scene. Mutual Aid Ambulance and the Excela Latrobe Hospital canteen also responded.