3500 Acre Controlled Burn in Page County Lights up the Night Sky

On Monday morning, the Forest Service announced a prescribed burn for a large section of Paige County in Northwestern Virginia. The fire was started on Monday morning and burned through the day, leading to heavy smoke in the area. By Monday evening, the fire had grown to a substantial size, and covered a large section of Massanutten Mountain in Paige, Augusta counties, west of Shenandoah in the Cub Run area.

Photographer and storm chaser Peter Forister was able to find a view of the smoke plume from Skyline Drive in Shenandoah National Park, over 10 miles from the blaze. At sunset, not much fire was visible and the smoke had been reduced significantly. However after the sun went down, the night sky was lit up with the orange glow of the fire burning in the brush. The most intense flames were photographed 3-5 miles northwest of the town of Shenandoah. They burned slowly, and stayed below the tree canopy for the most part. A few flare ups were visible, but they burned down quickly. The area has been under a fire advisory through the past few days, and is currently in “Abnormally dry” conditions according to the NOAA US Drought Monitor.

Although the air was quite dry, wind was light through the day, leading to ideal weather conditions for this type of large controlled burn. Fires play an integral role for keeping the forest ecosystem healthy in the Appalachian Mountains. According to the Virginia Department of Forestry and the USDA, prescribed burns help forests and wildlife by recycling nutrients into the soil, minimizing pests and diseases, reducing hazardous fire fuels, and improving habitat for endangered species. The fire is expected to burn for a few more days, and will be closely monitored by firefighters and a forest service helicopter, even days after the burn has finished.