South 1 Fire Update 7/2/08 PM
Incident: South One Wildland Fire
Released: 7/3/2008
South One Fire Update
Fire Information (540) 295-0389
Hours of Operation: 0800-2000
Florida Interagency Incident Management Team
Wednesday, July 2, 2008, 7 p.m.
Current Status
The South One Fire is burning in fallen Atlantic White Cedar and logging slash remnants from Hurricane Isabel, on the Great Dismal Swamp National Wildlife Refuge 12 miles southeast of Suffolk, Virginia.
Acreage
4,307 acres
Containment
90 percent
Fire Cause
The fire started in the afternoon of Monday, June 9, when logging equipment caught fire.
Resources
There are 240 people on the fire, including 4 twenty-person hand crews. Equipment includes 12 engines, 5 bulldozers, 2 water tenders, 1 Marsh Master, 1 Bombardier, 2 Geo Boy mowers, 2 Excavators, and 1 Harvester Saw. Three helicopters are supporting ground resources.
Participating Agencies & Cooperators
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Virginia State Department of Forestry, The Nature Conservancy, National Park Service, U.S. Forest Service, Bureau of Indian Affairs, the North Carolina Division of Forest Resources, Dismal Swamp State Park, Chesapeake Fire Rescue, Suffolk Fire Rescue and the Civil Air Patrol.
Restrictions and Closures
Lake Drummond is closed. Railroad Ditch, West Ditch, Interior Ditch and Corapeake Ditch Roads are closed to the public. The area of the Refuge south of Corapeake Ditch Road is also closed. Washington Ditch and Jericho Ditch are open. All roads and trails in Dismal Swamp State Park are closed to the public; the Visitor Center remains open. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Lake Drummond Reservation, part of the Canal, is closed to visitors. Contact the Corps at 757-201-7642 for more information. A temporary flight restriction is in effect up to 4,000 feet above the fire.
Today's Activities
&
Fire Behavior
Fire activity increased today because of lower relative humidity and continued drying conditions. Large pockets of burning peat are producing heat along the northern Interior Ditch and the eastern Riddick Ditch. Some active burning was observed in unburned fuels in these areas, with minimal fire spread. Fire behavior remained light along the cooler Corapeake Ditch to the south and the West Ditch. Crews continued work to install high volume pumps and galvanized pipe along Riddick Ditch, intended to increase water flow into the ditch and cool the fire edge. These pumps and sprinklers should be in place and fully operational by 5 p.m. tomorrow. Firefighters in the northern section continued work to build an alternative fire line along Railroad Ditch. This line will be in place in the event of fire spread in that direction. Hand crews, mowing equipment, and hot saws are being used to clear brush along that ditch. Pumping operations continued from Lake Drummond into Interior Ditch while an excavator removed fallen debris to improve water flow. Firefighters around the entire perimeter worked to remove dangerous dead trees near the fire line and monitor the fire edge, mopping up hot spots where safely possible. Weather conditions tomorrow are forecasted be drier, which could again increase fire activity.
Fire Weather
Tomorrow's temperatures are forecasted to be 90 degrees with winds from the south west 5-10 mph, and relative humidity at 31%.
Smoke
Smoke will continue to impact areas downwind of the fire. Residents and travelers should use extra caution when traveling through smoke.
Other Fire Information
Suffolk Saturday bus tours of the refuge are cancelled until further notice. On the Refuge, Jericho Ditch, Washington Ditch, and Portsmouth Ditch roads are open to the public. Speed limit on Desert Road near Refuge headquarters is 35 mph due to heavy fire traffic. Heavy smoke has been observed along US 17 at the Virginia/North Carolina state line. Emergency managers are carefully monitoring the situation. Anyone traveling in this area should use extreme caution and watch for road closures. Further information on the Great Dismal Swamp can be found at http://www.fws.gov/northeast/greatdismalswamp/; more fire information at http://www.inciweb.org/
