By Jim Hook
The Public Opinion
MERCERSBURG, Pa. — Two aircraft and more than 100 firefighters from seven counties battled a forest fire in record high temperatures on Wednesday south of Mercersburg.
For more than six hours, firefighters struggled to get ahead of a fire that burned an estimated 35 to 50 acres in Montgomery Township near the Maryland line. Flames as high as 30 to 40 feet were reported.
“We had trees torching out,” said Ray Miller, a forest fire specialist supervisor for the Pennsylvania Bureau of Forestry. “There’s some very rugged terrain on that mountain.”
He said at sunset that the fire was contained.
One firefighter suffered from the heat, but returned to the fire line after being treated and cooling off, according to John Price, assistant fire chief with Mercersburg Montgomery Peters and Warren Fire Company.
Throughout the day, two airplanes dropped water at the leading edge of the fire.
The National Weather Service in State College had warned early in the day that high winds, warm temperatures and low humidity created an “explosive fire growth potential.”
The cause of the fire is under investigation, but fire officials suspect a lightning strike may have started the blaze in a remote part of the woods. A storm cell with lightning passed over the area early Wednesday.
Volunteer fire companies across Franklin County extinguished other minor brush fires on a busy Wednesday.
The alarm for the mountain fire came around 10:30 a.m. It was spotted near a small area that had been scorched by a wildfire on April 1. Calls for manpower quickly went out to firefighters in Franklin, Fulton, Adams, Cumberland and Washington (Md.) counties. The state Bureau of Forestry sent forest fire crews. Specialists also arrived from the Frederick County (Md.) Wildland Fire Crew.
The fire spread across private land on the east side of Blairs Valley Road, just south of Whitetail Resort. DCNR has the authority to suppress forest fires on state land and private property, accord ing to Lyon.
Two tanker airplanes flew 100 miles from Mid-State Regional Airport, Philipsburg. Between water drops they refueled at the Washington County Regional Airport in Hagerstown, Md.
Flying at tree-top level, the airplanes were used in the initial attack, according to James Smith, district forester with Buchanan State Forest. Each Air Tractor carried 800 gallons of water.
“They’re an expensive resource. What they do, they do well,” Smith said at 4 p.m. Wednesday. “We’re still trying to get a handle on this.”
The two planes cost the state upwards of $19,000 for the day. The Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources pays $22.50 a minute for each Air Tractor, in addition to a daily retainer fee of $1,350, according to department spokesman Terry Brady. The department spends $491,000 a year to have two helicopters and as many as five airplanes on call.
A person causing a fire by accident or on purpose can be held liable for the costs of putting out the fire, according to Rod Lyon, forest fire specialist at Michaux State Forest.
The Bureau of Forestry would seek restitution from a person convicted of arson, Brady said.
Investigators will try to determine the cause of the fire today, Rice said.
Airplanes pose a risk for hand crews fighting the fire on the ground, according to Smith. The turbo props and water drops can bring down tree limbs.
Smith said fire crews follow safety guidelines: Keep a lookout, stay in communication, have an escape route should the wind change direction and have a safety zone where firefighters can hole up until the fire passes them by.
“Every fire is different,” Lyon said. “They have their own oddities. Some can be quite interesting. I look at a fire like a puzzle. Once you get the pieces of the puzzle together, the fire goes out. And it takes time.”
The attack on the fire Wednesday proceeded like a military campaign. Leaders checked wind direction, topographical maps and satellite images. They deployed manpower in accordance with a strategy. Crews overcame communication problems: Terrain interfered with radio reception; state forestry personnel operated on different frequencies than volunteer firefighter companies.
Drinks were ferried to crew members sweating in 90-degree heat. Hagerstown weather observer Greg Keefer measured a record 90 degrees for the date, just one day after the earliest 90-degree day ever (92 degrees on Tuesday). Keefer recorded a peak wind gust of 26 mph at 3 p.m. Winds typically ranged between 15 and 20 mph.
Pennsylvania forest fire crew members lugged heavy water packs up steep slopes. Once the flames died down in the afternoon, firefighters were able to move brush trucks onto logging roads on the mountain. They dug down to the soil in a line around the fire zone to further contain the burning.
Crew members are required to pass a physical test that includes hiking three miles in 45 minutes with a 45-pound on their backs.
Miller started his day with a 3 a.m. call for a mountain fire in Bedford County. The 17-acre blaze was contained by 9:30 a.m.
Forest fires greater than 100 acres have been battled this spring in Forest County.
The National Weather Service had issued a “red flag” warning for Franklin County until 7 p.m. Wednesday. The red flag warns that if a fire starts, it has the potential to spread easily.
Foresters say it’s not unheard of to get a red flag warning on a spring afternoon. Spring is the worst season for forest fires, according to Lyon. Leaves from the previous fall remain on the forest floor. Green leaves have not opened on the trees, so the sun dries out the leaf litter. Humidity is low.
A red flag warning typically comes off in the evening, when the wind calms, relative humidity increases and temperatures drop, according to Rick Lillard, regional fire manager for the Forest Service in the Maryland Department of Natural Resources.
“Altogether they reduce the risk of fire spreading or igniting in the evening,” Lillard said.
Most crews were called off the mountain by sunset Wednesday. Mop-up operations are to begin at 7 a.m. today. Afternoon rains are expected to help douse the remaining hot spots.
Members of Southern York County Forest Fire Crew, equipped with headlamps in their helmets, were keeping an eye on the fire perimeter during the night.
The Franklin County Chapter of the American Red Cross set up a temporary shelter for the night at the Tuscarora Senior Center for firefighters needing a break or homeowners who might be displaced by the fire, according to Red Cross Emergency Service Director Allen White Jr.
“Everybody hooked up and worked together,” Miller said.
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