PETERSBURG, W.Va. — Crews from the U.S. Forest Service are working to contain a fire within the Dolly Sods Wilderness area, one of five which has broken out since last week in the remote high country of West Virginia.
“We have a total of five fires on the Dolly Sods,” said Amy Luebke with the U.S. Forest Service. “Two of the fires are declared out, two are 100 percent contained meaning they’re not growing but they’re just not ready to be declared out yet. The one other fire we have more work to do.”
The first fire was discovered September 16th and the most recent was discovered Wednesday. All of the fires are situated in the Red Creek area of the forest in the southwest corner of the vast wilderness area. Investigators say three of the fires have been determined the result of carelessly unextinguished campfires. The cause of the other two remain under investigation. Luebke says it’s imperative to not only pour water on a campfire, but to stir the embers and add more water to insure its out. Until some significant rain comes however, there won’t be any more campfires.
“We have a fire ban for the entire Dolly Sods Wilderness area,” Lubke said. “That fire bans is in effect just because of the unseasonably dry situation we’re in. That will remain in place until weather conditions improve.”
The fires aren’t spectacular according to Luebke. They smolder along the ground in the organic material known as “duff.” Some of the fires can smolder underground for an extended period of time and reignite days later by traveling the dry root system of trees. Fire fighters face difficult work getting the fires out, but in the Dolly Sods the hazards are magnified by another factor.
“We need to have an explosives safety specialist from the Army Corps of Engineers to come in and do a visual and sub-surface scan for unexploded ordinance,” said Luebke. “Until we have that in place, we can’t actually have our fire fighters in there doing fire suppression until we know it’s a safe condition for them to work.”
The Dolly Sods served as an artillery training ground in the latter half of World War II for the U.S. Military. The area is littered with unexploded howitzer shells and other munitions which carry the potential to explode with the slightest touch or change in environmental conditions.
Rainfall arrived Wednesday night and is predicted to extend into the weekend. While that’s welcome news, it doesn’t completely solve the problem.
“The rain we’re getting certainly helps,” she said. “However, it’s not the end all answers. Duff fires are burning a foot and a half to two feet deep and the rain on the surface may not trickle down to where we need it to be.
Five trails in the Red Creek area in the southwestern portion of the Dolly Sods have been closed until further notice as crews try to get a handle on the last of the five fires.