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They have contained the blaze at Shenandoah National Park but stay to monitor fire activity
By CALVIN R. TRICE
Richmond Times Dispatch (Virginia)
Firefighters continue to put down flare-ups and closely scope the Shenandoah National Park woodland floor in the aftermath of a wildfire that charred 1,150 acres.
The fire was first reported the afternoon of April 4. As many as 140 firefighters from as far away as Puerto Rico battled the brush fire in remote federal land about 20 miles southeast of Harrisonburg, said park spokeswoman Julena Campbell.
Smoke from the stubborn blaze wafted up mountain slopes and eastward until it was visible at one point in the Charlottesville area on the other side of the Blue Ridge Mountains. Crews completely encircled the fire with containment lines by Sunday, Campbell said.
The flames caused no damage to structures and just minor injuries to a couple of firefighters, she said.
A tinder-dry forest floor, scant rain chances and rising temperatures forecast for the next week will keep occupied the 60 firefighters remaining to extinguish the fire, she said.
“We’ll have firefighters out there to the end of this week and possibly into next week, depending on the kind of weather we have,” Campbell said.
Rockytop, Austin Mountain and Lewis Peak trails in the southern section of the park northeast of Grottoes remain closed until further notice because of the fire.
An investigation into the cause is ongoing, but officials suspect it was caused by lightning from a band of thunderstorms that moved across the area the night of April 3.
The park has no trails in the area where smoke was first spotted the next day, Campbell said.
Like most Virginia wildfires, the park blaze was a slow-moving line of flames that rarely reach more than a few feet off the ground. The fires burn leaves and brush, and they blacken the woodland floor while healthy, mature trees go largely unaffected.
They are tamer than the towering wildfires in the western U.S. that engulf trees and spread among treetops.
The Shenandoah fire remained entirely within park boundaries. Fire departments from Grottoes, Elkton and McGaheysville helped fight the blaze as two helicopters dumped water on the steep, rocky terrain, Campbell said.
They were joined by firefighters from the Virginia Department of Forestry, the National Park Service, the U.S. Forest Service and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, park officials said.