The was the view Friday night of just part of what’s now being termed the Pinnacle Ridge Fire. It was hard to find a good spot to take a picture of the whole fire. You could see one section here it went in a straight line up the mountain that had definitely jumped the Parkway. The line of fire pictured above was below the Parkway road and we quite a site. The Forest Service helicopter was a constant presence the last few days. Seemed like they were just keeping an eye on things as they never attached the water bucket again. It’s was fun having the house shake as it roared overhead to make landings in the park just beyond my place.
Here’s the latest news stolen from the C-T site:
Meanwhile, part of the Blue Ridge Parkway remained closed because of a 425-acre fire at Pinnacle Ridge near Balsam Gap in Haywood County. That fire was 95 percent contained by Sunday evening, said David Brown with the N.C. Forest Service. It should be fully contained by noon today.
Rain had been helpful for firefighters. “Without it, this fire could have easily gone over 1,000 acres,” Brown said.
The fire crossed over the parkway at Pinnacle Tunnel, forcing officials to close the southern portion of the scenic road from U.S 23/74 at Balsam Gap to N.C. 215 at Beech Gap.
Great pix, but how scary!! Sounds like they have it pretty well contained by now. I HATE wildfires!! Although true environmentalists will say they are good for the forests………… I’m not convinced, though.
The smoke was thick oon the way to Waynesville this morning, but an hour and a half later, as we returned, much had already cleared!……scary stuff though, yes.