Monticello Live

Around 2:30, Saturday afternoon, a forest fire was reported in the southern part of Drew County.

For several hours, the fire was moving north on two separate fronts, and south, with another fire wall, centered around Gates/Mainline Road, between the south section of Midway Route and Collins Line Road, about 15-20 miles from Monticello.

Local fire departments were standing by area deer camps and watch for road crossings, while 2 planes were dropping water, another plane guiding the firefighters, and 9 fire-plows were also working to extinguish the blazes.

Around 7:30, Saturday night,  it was estimated the the fire was 50% contained, and that the planes and plows would be able to contain and control the remaining fire; and at 9 pm Arkansas Forestry Commission crews reported that the fire had been contained.

Several area fire departments, came out to assist the local AFC workers, including  fire crews from Lacey-Ladelle, Collins-Cominto, Monticello, and Dermott.

Other counties Forestry Commission teams also responded; including Bradley, Cleveland, and Lincoln Counties.

Drew County deputies, local constables, and ADEM and OEM were also on the scene, to help as needed.

Sunday, the Forestry commission was called out again, as ashes had blown across the fire lanes, and started fires again, on the south end, and the fires had now crossed into Ashley County.

As of 2 pm, Sunday afternoon, an estimated 990 acres or timber had been destroyed, in Drew County.

The bottom photo, submitted by Hunter Jones, shows the fire feeding on fresh timber, with flames estimated to be aprroximately 150 feet tall.

This entry was posted on Monday, September 20th, 2010 at 6:30 am and is filed under Fire, State. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.