South 1 Fire, July 16, PM Update
Incident: South One Wildland Fire
Released: 7/16/2008
South One Fire Update
Fire Information: (757) 986-2846 (0800-1800)
or (304) 516-9682 (1800-2000)
Hours of Operation: 0800-2000
Wednesday, July 16, 2008, 1845
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
4,664 acres
Containment
95 percent
Fire Cause
The fire started in the afternoon of Monday, June 9, when logging equipment caught fire.
Resources
There are 110 personnel on the fire, including 2 twenty-person hand crews.
Equipment includes: 5 engines, 2 bulldozers, 2 Marsh Masters, 1 Bombardier, 1 Excavator,
1 Harvester Saw, 1 Geoboy, and 1 helicopter
Today's Activities
&
Fire Behavior
Fire activity within the existing perimeter was minimal today, but the fire continues to smolder underground within deep pockets of peat. The northernmost section of the fire, north of Interior Ditch, and a large pocket south of Interior Ditch remain areas of concern. The interior section of the fire is producing smoke today. The current warming and drying conditions will continue through the weekend; as a result, the ground fires burning in the peat could again begin to burn on the surface and produce open flame and have more smoke impacts to surrounding communities. Firefighters today continued to flood the fire perimeter with water from Lake Drummond and patrolled and mopped up along the entire fire edge. Mop up continued on the new small fire that was observed last Saturday south of Corapeake Ditch Road. Crews hope to increase the containment of the fire throughout this week and to prevent any additional fire spread. Weather conditions will be a major factor in keeping the fire from actively burning again.
Participating Agencies & Cooperators
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Virginia State Department of Forestry, Florida Division 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, and Suffolk Fire Rescue.
Restrictions and Closures
Portions of the Refuge are closed to the public including: Lake Drummond, Railroad Ditch, West Ditch, Interior Ditch and Corapeake Ditch Roads. The area of the Refuge south of Corapeake Ditch Road is also closed. Washington Ditch and Jericho Ditch are open. The Dismal Swamp State Park has opened a portion of the Canal Trail, from the Visitor's Center to Kim Saunders Road. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineer Lake Drummond Reservation part of the Canal has reopened to visitors; however, boating access to Lake Drummond is still closed. Contact the Corps at 757-201-7642 for more information.
TFR: The temporary flight restriction over the South One Fire has been lifted. In the interest of safety, any aircraft wishing to fly into the fire area is urged to notify "Air Attack" on radio frequency 136.400 at 12 miles out. Aircraft pilots can also call ahead and notify Air Operations at (804)249-0919.
Fire Weather
Today's maximum temperature will be 89 degrees with winds from the north at 3-7 mph in the morning, but will be shifting and coming out of the northeast in the afternoon at 8-11 mph. Minimum relative humidity today will be 38%.
Smoke
A mixture of smoke and fog in the fire area could cause visibility issues in the evenings and mornings. Drivers are urged to be extremely cautious and travel with their low beam lights on.
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. 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/
