By Stephen Smoot
Under brilliantly blue skies, as winds raged down the North Fork Valley from Circleville to Seneca Rocks last Wednesday, those in the area took note of signs of trouble. Some spoke of seeing emergency vehicles, everything from local volunteer firefighters to United States Government vehicles, all screaming as they sped south on West Virginia Route 28.
Then came the awareness of a change in the air, that hint of acridness that puts one in mind of a hearth or a campfire.
Driving up the river to Cherry Grove, hazy conditions developed. At the source of the fire itself, winds were blowing a little less severely, but only a few hours into the blaze, smoke blew horizontally, parallel to the ground, as opposed to vertically. Wind damage had brought out a Seneca Rocks-Spruce Knob Telecommunications crew to clear fallen trees only a mile downwind of the fire.
That promised a difficult job lay ahead.
Besides the dry and windy conditions, fire crews battled the terrain. The fire burned an area with what the United States Forest Service described as “steep, mountainous terrain in oak-hickory forest type.” Access to the area remained difficult and dangerous, especially in the unpredictable winds.
By Thursday, the USFS took the lead, referring to the Big Mountain fire as “Woodside.” The Facebook page of Pendleton County Office of Emergency Management and 911 lauded “the numerous VFDs, WV DOF [Division of Forestry], and USFS fire crews for your great efforts in extreme terrain.”
In a later post, it was noted that Pendleton County Emergency Rescue sent standby units in case of injury.
Appreciation also went to “citizens supporting them with food, beverages, and prayers.”
The fire snaked up the side of the mountain facing away from WV 28, an area that did not threaten any homes or other structures. Officials did close the Vance Run Trail, however, as it ran in some parts along the fire boundary at times. At 9 a.m. on Nov. 6, 100 acres had burned and crews had 30 percent of the blaze contained.
Helicopter crews started dropping large buckets of water onto the fire, but the fire spread to 350 acres by Saturday.
While crews earned victories in extending the area of containment, while keeping it from escaping and threatening lives and property, another factor entered to assist efforts.
On Monday, the USFS update stated that below-freezing temperatures and snowfall and accumulation had “moderated fire behavior” and allowed crews to “build additional hand lines and dozer lines along the fire’s perimeter.”
Although still burning as of Monday night, the hard work of responders and the timely assistance of cold weather and snow had put it under more control.
The USFS thanked “incident commanders Jesse Holguin and Gabe Templeton, and would like to thank the Pendleton County Office of Emergency Management, local responders, and the community for their support.”
In addition to Pendleton County volunteer fire units, others came from Highland County in Virginia and Pocahontas County.
