April 10--NEW CASTLE -- The radio crackled, breaking the silence of a lunchtime rest to send a small squad of firefighters back to work.
For eight members of the Augusta Hotshots, it meant packing up in a haze of gray smoke. They paused before their ascent, a steep and winding trek to the top of Potts Mountain.
They weren't alone. All along the mountain on Monday, about 35 U.S. Forest Service firefighters battled 1,000 acres of fire, said to have ignited over the weekend on Cove Mountain in Botetourt County and along Barbours Creek in Craig County. Fires have spread since to Alleghany County.
About six fires are burning in the George Washington and Jefferson National Forests, said Barbara Walker of the Forest Service. One of those fires in Botetourt County near Arcadia has been reduced to 57 acres.
Authorities with the Forest Service said they believe the fires started at the hands of a human, possibly from fireworks set off along a trail used for off-roading Jeeps. No one has been injured by the fires and no structures stood in immediate danger Monday.
The mountain flames, which ate away at the slopes along the border of Craig and Alleghany counties, kept the Hotshots busy with their leaf blowers, chainsaws, rakes and axes.
They fought in "red flag" conditions, a label used by the National Weather Service to describe a trifecta of elements that elevate the chance of wildfires.
Gusty winds, dry air and low fuel moisture -- the moisture in grass, leaves and sticks on the ground -- kept authorities on guard as they attempted to stifle the flames that crept across the eastern and western ridges of Potts Mountain along Virginia 617.
About four miles away, Walker stood with a team of people preparing a helicopter for a reconnaissance mission.
"We've got some unfavorable conditions for fire right now," Walker said, referring to the people fighting the fire on the ground. "They're trying to get up there to the fire, and that's an ordeal in and of itself."
And the poor weather conditions are expected to continue into today. The National Weather Service on Monday issued a fire weather watch for the New River Valley and Alleghany Highlands until this evening.
Walker said the Virginia Department of Forestry and the Boiling Springs Volunteer Fire Department were assisting in the effort.
Walker said the top priority was protecting any human life. With four homes sitting a half-mile northeast of the fire, departments have been monitoring the direction of the flames and the best ways to contain them.
Behind Walker, the helicopter, piloted by Bonnie Wilkens, lifted from the ground to reassess the boundaries of the fire. Wilkens, who said she was the first woman in the country to battle fires from a helicopter, also assisted in extinguishing the flames. Using a bucket that holds about 150 gallons, she dropped water along the fire line, ahead of firefighters.
Her husband, Skip Messersmith, also a helicopter firefighter, stood nearby eating a lunch of fried chicken and iced tea. Messersmith described the Forest Service as a "well-oiled machine" when it comes to firefighting, one efficient at taking multiple agencies and molding them into a homogenous effort.
Back on Potts Mountain, squad leader Douglas Savor led his team of seven Augusta Hotshots up the path to the top. Some held axes over their shoulders, others lugged leaf blowers at their sides.
At the crest of the mountain, they met with a second squad, the 10 others in their team.
Beginning downwind of the flames, they hacked and sawed in their best effort to keep the fire from burning farther down the slope.
"I do know this seemed a lot smaller yesterday, and then the wind hit and it got big," Savor said.
According to the Forest Service, people should be mindful of completely extinguishing cigarettes and campfires to avoid igniting fires, especially during the dry season.
Copyright 2012 - The Roanoke Times, Va.
