HOT SHOTS:
April 5, 2006 - Around 1630 (4:30p) we received a call for a possible brush fire off North Mills River Rd. As we pulled out of the main station, we observed very heavy smoke. Chief Livingston immediately called for mutual aid. Along with all available units from Mills River FD, the NC Division of Forestry, Fletcher FD, Skyland FD, joined to battle this forest fire. Multiple structures were threatened, and the fire was in a steep mountainous area.

NC Division of Forestry called in their helicopter to drop water on this fast moving forest fire.

Water is JUST being dropped from the hovering chopper....not someplace you want to be standing!

Brush 18 is being refilled from a tanker

Brush 18 returns soaking down hot spots. NC Division of Forestry Bull Dozer has come out from the forest after cutting fire breaks.

Here's a shot of the CHARLIE sector of the smoldering fire.

Looking through heavy, dense smoke, here's another shot of the NC Division of Forestry's chopper making another water drop flight.  This chopper responded to the fire scene from its base in Hickory NC, and made 18 water drops before the fire was declared under control. All fire units were released by the NC Division of Forestry at approximately 2000 (8pm) hrs.  Members of the NC Division of Forestry remained on the scene most of the night.
Photos By Jeannie Pfeffer

 

BREVARD MUTUAL AID FOREST FIRE CALL

Article published Apr 18, 2006
Blazes keeping firefighters busy this season

By John Harbin
Times-News Staff Writer

BREVARD -- Road blocks, thick smoke, and concerned residents lined the streets near Trent Road in Brevard on Monday afternoon after a fallen power line began a fire that burned 100 acres and threatened more than a dozen homes.
According to Charles Merill with the Brevard Fire Department Safety Department, the blaze began at 2 p.m. after a fallen power line sparked dry brush, and high winds and dry conditions caused the fire to spread rapidly.
Firefighters from Brevard, Connesstee, Little River, North Transylvania, Mountain Homes and Mills River responded to Trent Road to assist in extinguishing the fire.

Due to the rocky terrain, two North Carolina Division of Forest Resources air tankers and a helicopter were called in to dump water on the fire.
The fire was contained at 5 p.m. and firefighters began the task of surveying the charred landscape to assure that no embers were left burning to start the fire again, Merill said.

Five homes were evacuated along Trent Road during the fire, but residents were let back into their homes after the area was secure around 6 p.m., according to Merill.

Helen Zachary, a Trent Road resident, said that she heard nothing at all when the powerline fell, but soon smelled the smoke which alerted her to the blaze behind her home.

"I walked out on the front porch and smelled the smoke," Zachary said. "My husband ran out and we knew it would be a bad fire. The wind was so terrible."
John Harbin can be reached @ 694-7881 or
john.harbin@hendresonvillenews.com

An amphibious air-tanker with the N.C. Division of Forest Resources drops water onto a fire that started in Brevard around 2 p.m. on Monday. Two air-tankers worked most of the afternoon dropping water on the fire that consumed around 100 acres. (Patrick Sullivan / Times-News)

Reprinted with Written Permission

Deer Path Drive Brush Fire 11/24/06