Wendy Byerly Wood | The News
Smoke from fires along the fire lines at the base of the south/southeast side of Pilot Mountain can be seen from the parking lot at the Four Brothers on Perch Road at the Pinnacle Exit off U.S. 52 Sunday afternoon.
Wendy Byerly Wood | The News
The sun reflects off the smoke rising from the fire lines on the north side of Pilot Mountain Sunday afternoon as it is seen from the parking lot of Friendly Chapel Church beside U.S. 52.
PILOT MOUNTAIN — The fire that started Thursday on the slopes of Pilot Mountain as a controlled burn of three acres grew to about 800 acres by Sunday afternoon, according to fire officials.
Brian Elam, Surry County ranger with the North Carolina Forest Service, said the fire still was contained on the state park land as of Sunday night. The fire did cross over the established fire line at Pinnacle Hotel Road and burned about an acre to an acre and a half of private land, he said.
“We did have a little slope over this morning, but we got it pushed back and beefed up the fire lines,” Elam said.
Despite claims that there were explosive materials near where the fire crossed onto private property, Elam said there was nothing confirmed.
Shoals Volunteer Fire Department helped push the fire back onto the state park land and was continuing to provide support for the forest service and state park crews working on containing the wildfire, Elam said.
“We’ve made some good progress today,” he said, adding that forecasts are calling for rain Monday night, but that he was unsure of how much would actually fall.
Elam said, if enough rain falls, “by Wednesday we’ll be in good shape.”
He said spotters will be monitoring and “walking the fire lines through the night to keep an eye on it to make sure it doesn’t roll over” on to private property.
Post a Comment
