Crews battle Smoke Hole Fire to stalemate for now

PETERSBURG, W.Va. — Firefighters from 18 states are now in West Virginia helping to battle the Smoke Hole Forest Fire in Pendleton and Grant counties. Officials say they are making progress in containment of the fire which has burned since Sunday.

Bob Beanblossom, spokesman for the U.S. Forest Service, said the fire remains at 1,400 acres and is 20 percent contained. Crews were able to stop the fire’s advance on Wednesday as more help arrived.

“The real positive news is additional resources continue to arrive,” Beanblossom said. “Today there will be well over 150 people on the fire lines.”

Construction of those lines in the rugged mountains of West Virginia’s Potomac Highlands has been labor intensive work.

“A direct line is built right at the fire’s edge where it’s safe to do so. Typically it includes construction with hand tools and leaf blowers,” he said. “An indirect line is away from the fire’s edge and it constructed when we can’t attack it directly.”

Beanblossom said the planning of those fire lines is meticulous uses natural breaks like rock cliffs to help direct the fire toward areas where it can no longer advance. Several times this week the battle has included dropping water from the air via helicopter.

The test of the fire lines is expected to come in the next 2 to 3 days as the humidity remains low, temperatures are on the rise, and the wind is picking up. The test will be whether the lines are able to halt the fire’s advance and allow it to burn itself out.

“If we can get through these next couple of days, I would anticipate things would be in pretty good shape by the beginning of next week,” Beanblossom said.





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