LIGHT FIRE SEASON, SO FAR - Recalling Major Calhoun Forest Fires

(11/15/2006)

Mild temperatures and enough rainfall have kept forest fires in West Virginia in-check this fire season. The state Division of Forestry reports 70 fires that have destroyed 850 acres since the Fall Forest Fire Season began on October 1. Calhoun has had only one fire, Rt. 5 and Big Root Road, called in last week. There is still time for serious fires, through December 31st. The forestry division says, "Ninety-nine percent of our fires here in West Virginia are caused by humans or their actions and that can be carelessness with their burning or intentional acts like arson." Oldtimers will recall weeks of out-of-control forest fires in Calhoun in the late 1950s, burning several thousand acres, most of it in the greater Bee Creek and Bear Fork areas. Hundreds of volunteers fought the blazes, but an arsonist kept ahead of the game. The arsonist was caught. Smoke hung so heavily, the view was limited in the region.

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