South One Fire Update 7/5/08 PM
Incident: South One Wildland Fire
Released: 7/5/2008
South One Fire Update
Fire Information (540) 295-0389
Hours of Operation: 0800-2000
Florida Interagency Incident Management Team
Saturday, July 5, 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
4,629 acres: Additional acreage due to minimal fire spread into unburned pockets of vegetation inside fire perimeter.
Containment
90 percent
Fire Cause
The fire started in the afternoon of Monday, June 9, when logging equipment caught fire.
Resources
There are 227 people on the fire, including 3 twenty-person hand crews. Equipment includes 13 engines, 5 bulldozers, 3 water tenders, 1 Marsh Master, 1 Bombardier, 2 Geo Boy mowers, 2 Excavators, 1 Harvester Saw, and 2 helicopters.
Today's Activities
&
Fire Behavior
Fire activity increased dramatically yesterday afternoon, burning a long, narrow finger in heavy vegetation north of Interior Ditch. This finger progressed up to 1/2 mile northward before the rain could knock it down. The north most fire perimeter now extends 8 tenths of a mile south of the secondary fire line along Railroad Ditch. Fire behavior today has been light due to last night's rain. An average of 1/4 inch of precipitation fell throughout the fire area. Scattered thunderstorms are possible again today through Monday, with higher relative humidity forecasted. This wet pattern should continue to bring relief to firefighters. The Interior Ditch dam construction project is now complete and flooding operations will continue in the northern section of the fire. The high-volume sprinkler operation along Riddick Ditch, on the eastern edge of the fire, also continued today. Sprinklers continued to work in the southeast corner of the fire to prevent any additional spread onto the Great Dismal Swamp State Park. Mulchers and hot saws worked to clear brush along West Ditch south from Railroad Ditch, in efforts to improve this western containment line. There are still several large pockets of unburned vegetation inside the fire perimeter. Once conditions dry out again, fire activity is expected to increase. Large pockets of burning peat will continue to smolder and burn even with last night's light rain. Significant concerns are falling trees, erratic winds from thunderstorms, lightning, smoke on the roadways and increased holiday traffic in the fire area.
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.
Fire Weather
Tomorrow's temperatures are forecasted to be 88 degrees with winds from the southwest at 7-15 mph, and minimum relative humidity 50%.
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/
