• 500 Acres and counting. Wildfire in Mountains of NC
    12 replies, posted
[quote]BLACK MOUNTAIN, N.C. -- Fire officials say the wind is playing a big role in the difficulty of fighting a wildfire in Black Mountain that has destroyed one home and burned five others. Fire officials say the fire started around 2:30 p.m. on Dunsmore Avenue in the Ridgecrest Area of Buncombe County. More than 500 acres had been burned as of 6 p.m., Black Mountain Fire Chief Steve Jones said. He also says the flames were 100-feet tall at one point. At least 20 different agencies are on the scene to help contain the wildfire. Jones says right now, protecting houses is one of the biggest concerns.[/quote] Source: [url]http://www.wlos.com//news/features/top-stories/stories/fire-chief-wildfire-burns-500-acres-still-moving-20339.shtml#.VRsZhuGmsb4[/url] Still spreading insanely fast due to 20 mph winds. I have two friends living in the remote area, one has houses burned down around his, the other had the flames close to his home, and he believes it started close to his house. I helped fight some flames and cover everything else with water. Here's some pics, the second pic, where you see dark green vegetation is all burned. It was controlled by fire departments earlier. Update: The fire is 50% contained. I spent most of the night, around the area helping evacuated families. Cooking food etc on the grill. Fire fighters said it could get worse with high winds today. [IMG]http://i.imgur.com/ZwKclMs.jpg[/IMG] [IMG]http://i.imgur.com/DhjHe5H.jpg[/IMG]
Wildfires are bullshit and I hate them, that's really all I got to say. Hope the damage to homes is minimal and people are safe.
Do they know what caused it ? Or was it just sparked from a mix of heat with dry grass?
Whoo. And they're not a state that usually gets wildfires, so their FDs are having an even tougher time putting this shit out. Someone call the NatGuard and see if they can get some C-130 water bombers flown out there ASAFP.
[QUOTE=BANNED USER;47432881]Wildfires are bullshit and I hate them, that's really all I got to say. Hope the damage to homes is minimal and people are safe.[/QUOTE] They are actually useful to nature in some way or another. I can't recall where I read it, but if they don't grow THAT much out of control, they are something needed to maintain a sort of balance and give "stuff" to the soil. Damn, wish I had that link right now because it had a lot of interesting info.
Seeing such vast areas of nature go up in flames is painful. Hope no-one was hurt.
[QUOTE=Occlusion;47433080]Seeing such vast areas of nature go up in flames is painful. Hope no-one was hurt.[/QUOTE] Like Cutthecrap said nature actually relies on it. Human meddling ends up causing worse fires (because smaller ones are prevented). And there's certain plant species that rely on fires, like Apsen. [url]http://www.nps.gov/yell/learn/management/fireecology.htm[/url] Sucks for humans but fires have been around for a lot longer than us.
The fire was caused by someone with a brushfire, that got out control. And it was a no burning day, due to the wind being so fast. The area you see in 1 pic, was a bunch of river birch, and they hold up to flames due to their leaves being swelled with water.. The rest of the mountain is engulfed in flames. Sadly, and its leading to a major national forest.
I live close enough that I should see a smoke pillar, I'll see if I can get a few pictures tomorrow.
[QUOTE=MajorWX;47433378]I live close enough that I should see a smoke pillar, I'll see if I can get a few pictures tomorrow.[/QUOTE] I'm probably heading up now from Old Fort to see it. Apparently the highway patrol is about to start blocking off the mountain up, because the flames are spreading over into it. If it gets in the valley, its gonna be hell. So far its heading north of I-40 into the main forest, and cannot be contained, due to the lack of man power and machine power.
Hehe, I live like five minutes from the fire, its kinds scarry to come home and see a giant wall of smoke coming from the next mountains over.
Yikes. I grew up beside the South Mountain State Park, and the wildfires get absolutely crazy in those mountains. Usually the only way they can catch them is by luck of the draw with where bulldozers can path, and how many planes are able to drop the flame retardant powder (which was the only way they saved my parent's house on two different occasions). Those firefighters are amazing men and women. Best of luck to them to getting it under control. It's way too early in the season to be getting fires like this already.
Updated post. Post more pictures after work.
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