Crews battling Steep Valley Fire
Nov. 7—Firefighting crews continued battling the Steep Valley Fire in National Park Service territory on Tuesday.
According to Dave Bieri, NPS district supervisor, a blaze of so far unknown origin started Monday by the railroad tracks about two miles south of Quinnimont, across the New River from Mill Creek. By late Tuesday morning, Bieri said the blaze covered an estimated 150 acres and was "expected to grow."
"It started yesterday afternoon and worked its way up the mountain," Bieri said Tuesday morning.
Bieri said the fire is occurring in a "pretty wild area" and that there were no structures currently threatened as of shortly before noon on Tuesday. There had been no injuries reported, he said.
Crews from the National Park Service's New River Gorge area were joined by an NPS crew from Indiana Dunes, a Forest Service crew from Wayne National Forest in Ohio and a state crew from Pennsylvania in working to contain the fire Tuesday, according to Bieri. Also expected to arrive onsite to assist was a crew from Monongahela National Forest.
The lone closure through Tuesday morning was the War Ridge Campground.
An investigation into the origin of the fire will be conducted, Bieri said.
