By Stephen Smoot
In Franklin, Fort Seybert, and Upper Tract over the past week, four fires kept Pendleton County fire and rescue units busy as they tried to contain flames stirred by springlike temperatures and higher winds.
Potentially, the most dangerous fire took place last Tuesday. On the 1000 block of Entry Mountain Road at about 8:40 p.m., Pendleton 911 dispatched the Franklin Volunteer Fire Department to a “working structure fire,” as they described it on their Facebook page. Initially, the FVFD treated the fire as “a potential entrapment,” but crews from Engine 26, Engine 22, and Tanker 25 quickly ascertained that all had escaped the home.
They saw the single-story home consumed by “a heavy fire.” As was described on the FVFD Facebook page, “crews initiated an interior attack, performed searches to ensure no victims were inside, and conducted an extensive overhaul of the structure to uncover hot spots and ensure extinguishment.”
Responders had to contend with “heavy fire and high heat” as they navigated the burning home.
Aiding FVFD in the response was Upper Tract VFD, South Fork VFD, Pendleton County Emergency Rescue, West Virginia State Police, Pendleton County Sheriff’s Department, Pendleton County Emergency Management, and Mon Power.
No injuries were reported among either residents or responders. A GoFundMe was set up to help the family recover after losing most of their belongings.
At about 3 p.m. on Saturday, Pendleton 911 was alerted to two brush fires burning over 20 miles apart in the county.
According to the Upper Tract Volunteer Fire Department, the Upper Tract blaze found itself confronted by the quick response of a forestry fire class that had just ended.
Responders quickly suppressed the fire, which consumed two acres.
As UTVFD and other units responded to that fire, reports of a more serious blaze came in to Pendleton 911. The Pendleton County Office of Emergency Management and Pendleton 911 reported that “a larger wildfire in the George Washington National Forest near West Side Road between Brandywine and Fort Seybert” had erupted.
Though the U.S. Forest Service has conducted prescribed burns in the George Washington National Forest, these took place far from the Pendleton County fire.
Every volunteer fire department in Pendleton County responded to the national forest fire, joined by personnel from the West Virginia Division of Forestry and Pendleton County Emergency Rescue. United States Forest Service personnel responded quickly and took command of the scene.
The next day, Upper Tract Volunteer Fire Department responded to yet another brush fire in the Greenwalt Gap region. According to their Facebook page, “The fire was quickly contained and turned over to WV DoF.”
Conditions conducive to the quick spread of fires are expected to continue at least through the week.
