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By JIM
RUNKLE -
jrunkle@lockhaven.com
RENOVO — After four days of battling an incredibly
stubborn forest fire, local volunteers and firefighters from
around the state contained and surrounded a huge blaze that
devastated a large section of Tiadaghton
State
Forest this weekend.
The volunteers battled tinder-dry conditions, the frequently
dangerous spread of flames and terrain much too rugged for
even bulldozers, to finally contain the flames.
Some 1,400 acres burned.
“The crews are in the process of mopping up and conducting
line maintenance,” DCNR Information Officer Wayne Wynick
said this morning. “We are going to get this thing finally,
officially, put to bed.”
The fire, which began Friday, spread quickly.
Local firefighters saw the need for additional manpower
almost as speedily. In the end, some 150 to 170 volunteers
were in the field at any one time, working in shifts, 24
hours a day to contain the flames.
“We did it in relays, Wynick said. “At the beginning we had
flames 75 to 80 feet high going through the Mountain Laurel
... When you have a situation like that, the only thing you
can do is stand back and say look at that sucker go!”
Over the weekend, two fixed wing tanker aircraft were joined
with a bucket-equipped helicopter, a spotter aircraft and a
state police helicopter, as a make-shift air traffic control
was established at the scene to coordinate the water and
chemical drops.
“There were a lot of local folks already tired,” Wynick
said. “Many of them just came off that fire along the
Carrier Road, and were called in to get this one anchored
... The hours were long and the nights were short.”
Wynick said Forestry Department crews were called in from
virtually all parts of the state, and firefighters from
Centre, Lycoming and Clinton welcomed any skilled hands to
assist that the scene. A complete list of the fire companies
was not available. The furthest forestry officials
responding came from the southeast corner of the state.
Wynick himself is from the Clearfield
area.
“This was truly a statewide effort,” he said.
Several rural cabins were in danger, he added, but it
appears as if the volunteers were able to stop the flames
short of the structures.
“Last evening we had a couple of cabins in the Fish Dam Wild
Area in the path of the fire, but the crews did a
commendable job,” he said.
According to emergency officials, efforts in Noyes Township
continued this morning, while firefighters and others
gathered for a information sharing session at the changing
of the shifts, around 8 a.m.
Weather officials say some respite might come, in the form
of heavy rain predicted for later this week.
Local authorities said they were uncertain of the number of
units or volunteers on scene, because of the extensive
response and the fact that some of the volunteers were
released for sleep as others were called for duty.
By all reports, the blaze required an extensive response
from a large region of Clinton and nearby counties.
Fire officials for the Renovo based companies were contacted
several times to provide an update on the situation early
today, but were involved in a series of meetings and were
unavailable for comment.
According to Tiadaghton State
Forest officials, the fuels for fires are more dry this year
than in a normal season, due to the lack of rain in the past
month.
Some counties had enacted a countywide ban on open burning
at the request of county fire companies and the Department
of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR).
Three fires damaged more than 1,100 acres in Centre, Clinton
and Lycoming counties last week, and the DCNR has recorded
411 fires in the state so far this year .
Firefighters are hoping for a good dollop of precipitation —
and according to the national Weather Service they might
just get it.
Light rain was expected over southern sections of the
commonwealth today as a low pressure system tracks south of
the state. The rain will diminish tonight as temperatures
drop into the mid 30s in the north and low 40s in the south.
That will be followed by a a small low pressure system,
sliding into the state on Tuesday. A large low pressure
system will approach Pennsylvania Wednesday night bringing
some showers, with heavier showers and thunderstorms on
Thursday.
Penn Hills
Wildland Crew responded to this incident
as part of the District 17 Crew, sending six firefighters.
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