GLEN JEAN, W.Va. — Nearly two dozen fire fighters from the National Park Service and U.S. Forest Service continued the difficult work of containing a forest fire within the New River Gorge. The blaze, now covering about 110 acres is 50 percent contained in the area of Beauty Mountain.
The fire is burning low and slow, and although flames are visible, particularly at night, National Park Service District Supervisor Dave Bieri said it’s not the kind of fire you see in California–and in fact is probably helping the forest.
“This is low burning through leaf litter and there are actually benefits to a fire like this. This is the kind of fire we would do in a prescribed burn to get rid of fuel loads,” he explained.
The concern for National Park Service officials isn’t the forest, but rather the historic town of Nuttallburg.
“That’s in between the fire and the railroad and with the historic structures, they’re trying to maintain a fire line above that,” Bieri said.
However, creating the fire line downhill from the blaze is tricky business.
“They’ve got fire lines on both sides, but the bottom fire line has a lot of stuff rolling downhill and that’s making it difficult,” he explained.
The forecast for the area for Wednesday and Thursday called for cloudy skies and an increased chance for rain which would help accelerate getting the fire out. Higher humidity is also in the forecast which has improved conditions.
There are 20 fire fighters battling the blaze including those from the New River Gorge National Park and Preserve, the Cuyahoga Valley National Park in Ohio and Shenandoah National Park in Virginia. Firefighters from the U.S. Forest Service are also part of the effort. Due to the rugged and remote location all of the equipment has to be carried into the scene and the only access is by walking.
“Most of the terrain is 45 degree slope, so just getting personnel down there is the hardest part. It’s all on foot, they can’t get UTV’s or anything like that into this area,” Bieri said.