.jpg)
Area fire departments responded to a brush fire last Wednesday near Spring Valley Road west of Lexington.
According to Kevin Moore, deputy chief of Rockbridge Fire and Rescue, the fire was started when high winds caused a tree to fall into power lines.
Though multiple homes were threatened by the fire, none were damaged, and the fire was contained to about eight acres. Firefighters had to deal with “extremely rugged terrain,” according to Lexington Fire Chief Ty Dickerson.
Responding to the fire were Lexington Fire and Rescue, Kerrs Creek Fire and Rescue, Rockbridge Baths Fire Department, Rockbridge County Fire and Rescue, and Effinger Fire and Rescue. A Virginia Department of Forestry bulldozer was also used.
Firefighters were dispatched around 2 p.m. and worked on the fire until around 5:45 p.m., when the fire was contained and turned over to the Virginia Department of Forestry, which remained on the scene.
High winds and dry conditions also produced calls for small brush fires and downed trees in Augusta County, to which the Raphine and Walkers Creek fire departments responded.
Those dangerous fire conditions also led to five large fires last week in the George Washington and Jefferson National Forests in Rockingham, Shenandoah and Page counties in Virginia and Hardy County, W.Va. As of Tuesday morning, the fires had consumed a combined total of over 14,600 acres and were being battled by multiple agencies.
Virginia’s 4 p.m. burning law remains in effect until April 30, meaning that openair burning is prohibited before 4 p.m. if the fire is within 300 feet of the woods or dry grass that could carry the fire to the woods.
