February 10, 2008

The National Weather Service forecast for high winds in Albemarle County came in the form of numerous lines down and brush fire calls for all county units. STVFD's first call of the day at around 1030 hours was a brush fire from a downed power line that turned out to be a foreboding indicator of the day to come for Albemarle Co. STVFD units ended up answering 22 calls for service for the day, many outside our first due. For most of the afternoon all county units were committed on incidents as more calls for service were being queued up at ECC. As a unit cleared up and became available the were dispatched to another incident somewhere in the county. STVFD's biggest fire of the day turned out to be a 25 - 35 acres forest fire near the Oakencroft Vineyards. E85 noticed the smoke the the area of Garth Gate Lane while en route to another call on Garth Road. After being released they advised ECC they would be investigating the smoke. Upon arrival they found a fast moving brush fire that has gained a footing in a large stand of pine trees. At the other end of the stand of pines was Oakencroft Winery's fields full of grape vines. A structure near the fires origin was protected and all other resources were sent to Oakencroft to make a stop on the fire at the vineyard. With the help of local farmers and contractors the fire units were able to construct a fire line around the entire fire and the progression of the fire held in check. The forestry bulldozers were unavailable due to being tied up on other fires in the county. The day ended as it had started with a smaller brush fire due to downed power lines at Panorama Farms on Earlysville Road.

http://www.dailyprogress.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=CDP/MGArticle/CD...
http://www.nbc29.com/global/story.asp?s=7850752