The fire on Sunday in the Montcalm-Rock area burned more than twenty-five acres. The West Virginia Division of Forestry is monitoring the area to make sure the fire doesn’t jump their containment lines. Keith Gunnoe, Mercer County’s Emergency Management Director, says the cause of the blaze is believed to be an illegal trash fire.
He says the recent rains can be misleading and do not indicate that it’s safe to burn. Ignoring fire laws any time of year can be dangerous... but with no leaves on the trees... low humidity... and wind... spring presents all the ingredients for a recipe for disaster.
“...the sun is baking those old, dead leaves on the forest floor. Then you add, you know, dry air with low relative humidities and dew points and then you add a little bit of wind on top of that and that’s kind of the perfect... ingredients to create a fast-moving fire, in particular if the wind’s blowing,” says Gunnoe.