The recent stretch of dry weather brought more brush fires over the last week.
A resident was burning a brush pile near Mount Nebo Baptist Church when the fire got out of control around 4 p.m., Friday. Snowbird and Graham County Fire Departments, N.C. Forest Service, and U.S. Forest Service firefighters were able to control the fire, which burned less than an acre and threatened one outbuilding.
The National Weather Service had issued a high fire danger alert due to low humidity and strong, gusty winds for Friday and Saturday, but another brush fire occurred around 6:40 p.m., Saturday, off U.S. Highway 129 near Castlewood. A land owner was burning debris when the fire got out of control and crossed a road onto another person’s property.
This fire was also contained at less than an acre.
Things cooled off until Monday, when a brush fire was discovered by two U.S. Forest Service personnel above the end of Leonard Davis Road in the Massey Branch area around 12:30 p.m. The fire had already burned five acres when crews made it to the scene.
A total of 15 firefighters from both the U.S. and N.C. Forest services fought the blaze all afternoon, finally bringing it under control around 5 p.m.
The fire consumed 15 acres: one acre of private property and 14 acres of U.S. Forest Service land.
As of The Graham Star’s Wednesday’s press deadline, arson has not been ruled out as a cause of the fire.