Rappahannock community responds to wind-whipped fires: ‘Everybody stepped up’

County official: ‘I could not have had more pride’

The Rappahannock County volunteer fire and rescue system was challenged on March 20 when harsh winds and downed electrical wires set ablaze brush fires in seven different corners of the county.

“You would think so many fires would be a major issue,” said Richie Burke, president of the Volunteer Fire and Rescue Association. “But everybody stepped up. Businesses let volunteer firefighters leave to answer the calls. Some companies had more volunteers than others, but it seemed like everyone at least got something out along the way.”

County Administrator Garrey Curry toured the scenes of the fires on Thursday, saying, “I could not have had more pride as a Rappahannock County official after seeing what our community was able to do by coming together.”

Curry said that it was a “collective” effort with local and neighboring volunteer companies, career first responders, the state Department of Forestry, private citizens, businesses and the 911 dispatch center all doing “an amazing job at containing so many fires that were scattered across the county.”  

The 911 dispatch center began receiving calls shortly before 1 p.m. the day of the fire, according to Rappahannock County Emergency Services Coordinator Darren Stevens, and by 3 p.m., “we had firefighters actively engaged in suppression activity in seven different areas of the county.”

The dispatch center answered 118 calls that day, each call within three seconds, according to a Facebook post by the Rappahannock County Fire & Rescue Department. Fire companies as far as three hours away came to assist in Rappahannock, along with companies from Fauquier, Culpeper and Warren counties. 

“The older volunteers can manage a lot of these types of calls,” Burke said. “I’m not saying it’s easy, but it’s not as demanding as, say, a full blown structure fire. But we could always use more younger volunteers. Still, when you get a daytime call, a lot of your younger people are  working, so you often need to rely on those older volunteers.”

Most of the fires had been extinguished by 8 p.m. but two large fires, Sundale Farm Lane/Battle Mountain Road and Red Oak Mountain, stayed active until shortly after 11 p.m., Stevens wrote in an email to the Rappahannock News.

The fire on Sundale is estimated to have consumed more than 90 acres of land, and the fire on Red Oak Mountain was over 30 acres, Stevens wrote. The remainder were all estimated to be less than five acres each. Steep inclines and heavy plant growth presented additional challenges at many locations.

“We have just begun to tally some of our data, but at first glance, our volunteer Fire and Rescue system contributed hundreds of man-hours during the first operational period of 12 noon through midnight Wednesday,” Stevens wrote. “Additionally, several local businesses and citizens also contributed equipment and manpower to help bring this day to a successful close.”

All of the fires started within two to three hours of each other, Burke said. 

“It’s not like we haven’t handled these kinds of fires before,” he said. “It’s just the magnitude of so many in such a short period of time…so many within two to three hours. That’s what made this so unusual…”

Many residents in the county lost electricity in their homes for up to 10 hours.

Rappahannock Electric Cooperative (REC) spokesperson Casey Hollins told the Rappahannock News that REC responded to 14 outage events in the county, which affected nearly 900 member-owners.

“The cause of those outages was downed trees,” Hollins wrote. “The severe weather event, which was predominantly strong gusty winds, resulted in one broken pole in Rappahannock County, as well as wire down in multiple areas. We had one broken crossarm in Rappahannock County as well. The pole and crossarm were both replaced that day.”

Wind speeds up to 27 miles per hour and low humidity caused the fires in seven locations by early afternoon:

• Boston/Sperryville Pike

• Red Oak Mountain

• Battle Run Lane

• Sundale Farm Lane/Battle Mountain Road

• F.T. Valley/Ashby Road

• Zachary Taylor Highway in Huntly

• Lee Highway near Washington

Firefighters respond

While no structures were damaged in Rappahannock, it took 20 firefighters to protect Tom Johnson’s home near the top of Red Oak Mountain. Johnson said the fire came within 10-15 feet of some of his outbuildings. 

“They worked efficiently and tirelessly for hours on end,” Johnson said. “We are so fortunate to have dedicated volunteers in our community and I can’t thank them enough for protecting my property.”

Burke said the fire on Red Oak Mountain was particularly challenging — the winds kept changing, and the fire was creeping dangerously close to Johnson’s home.

“We were very lucky to keep it to the size it was,” Burke said. Fire companies from Sperryville, Chester Gap, Castleon and Culpeper were on the scene.

“A man doing excavating work on our lot below the fire headed up the mountain to help out and began to construct a fire break with his trackhoe,” said Pam Harper, who is building a home on a nearby lot. 

The estimated value of the damaged track hoe was about $80,000, according to owner Jeff Wise. “My mom always told me when you’re doing a good deed you can’t out-give God,” he said.

Sperryville residents Eve and Stephen Brooks heard a strong gust of wind around 1 p.m. and a large tree fell in the woods behind their home. It pulled down a nearby power line, which ignited a fire immediately after contacting the dry brush and leaves on the ground.

A nearby gardener took buckets of water from a pond, but the fire spread rapidly. A call to the Sperryville fire company brought a quick response — by 3 p.m. the flames had subsided and firefighters left the scene. 

But, the firefighters would be called back three more times after the fire continued smoldering and reigniting. 

“The fires we responded to were power line-related,” said Todd Brown, chief of the Chester Gap Volunteer Fire Department. “When you get high winds and very low humidity it doesn’t take much to start a fire. You get a downed power line or even a tree branch hitting a line that causes a spark to hit the ground, it just takes off. People just don’t realize how fast a fire like that can spread.”

Food for first responders

Sperryville Rescue Squad volunteer Larry Grove reported that WalMart donated submarine sandwiches to each fire station in the county. They were delivered by Sheriff Connie Compton and members of the Sheriff’s Office.

The Country Cafe Pit Stop in Sperryville moved into high gear to get hamburgers and sandwiches out to the firefighters at the Red Oak fire at 11 p.m. last Wednesday — and resident H.B. Wood picked up the tab for the sandwiches.

Other fire and rescue companies said that citizens were stopping by the firehouses throughout the day delivering food and drinks.

— Tim Carrington of Foothill Forum contributed to this report

Foothills Forum is an independent, community-supported nonprofit tackling the need for in-depth research and reporting on Rappahannock County issues.

The group has an agreement with Rappahannock Media, owner of the Rappahannock News, to present this series and other award-winning reporting projects. More at foothillsforum.org.