Wildfire in Monongahela National Forest still burning after week of firefighting, rain

By Rick Steelhammer
Charleston Gazette-Mail
October 9, 2017
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US East

Despite nearly one inch of rain and the efforts of 140 firefighters and a helicopter crew, a forest fire began its second week of charring the slopes of North Fork Mountain in the Monongahela National Forest in Grant County on Monday. According to a report released Monday by the U.S. Forest Service, the 198-acre fire was 30 percent contained after firefighters took advantage of Sunday’s high humidity and rain to complete a fire line along North Fork Mountain Trail, which follows the crest of its namesake mountain, on the eastern side of the blaze. On Monday, firefighters focused their attention on assessing potential fire line sites on the steep, rocky terrain of the western side of the fire. …Increased humidity from Sunday night rains ushered in by the remnants of Hurricane Nate could help firefighters contain more of the fire, although the expected arrival of winds gusting to 30 miles per hour could have the opposite effect, according to the Forest Service.

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