Updated: Kentucky wildfire expands to over 100 acres. Natural Bridge geography causes issues
The wildfire that closed the hiking trails at Natural Bridge State Park has pushed past containment lines set by fire crews Tuesday and expanded to over 100 acres.
Winds have pushed the blaze beyond the boundaries of the state park and onto the surrounding Daniel Boone National Forest, a release from the Kentucky Energy and Environment Cabinet said Wednesday. More than 100 firefighters from the U.S. Forest Service, the state and local departments were battling the fire.
Brandon Howard, the state forester and the Division of Forestry director, said the area’s unique geography has been a challenge.
“What makes Natural Bridge unique, namely its arches and cliff lines, also makes it extremely difficult to control wildfire,” Howard said in the release. “Hand crews with fire rakes have to construct containment lines while maneuvering in, around, and sometimes over cliffs.”
Red Flag conditions — weather patterns that increase the likelihood of wildland fire — are expected Thursday, the cabinet said. A chance for rain showers in the area begins Friday and extends into Saturday.
The fire was spotted by a tourist Monday and called into Powell County dispatch a little after 8:30 p.m., Shauna Staton, a training officer with Middlefork Fire and Rescue, told the Herald-Leader. The all-volunteer fire department from eastern Powell County was joined by state and federal forestry officials in fighting the blaze.
On its Facebook page, the state park said all hiking trails were closed. It’s unclear for how long. All parking lots, with the exception of the lodge parking lot, were also closed. The park said the state Division of Forestry and the U.S. Forest Services were working on fire containment. The lodge and cottages were unaffected by the fire.
The cause of the fire is under investigation. Multiple fire engines and “aerial resources” were battling the fire Wednesday, the Kentucky Energy and Environment Cabinet said. Once the spread of the fire is contained, crews will turn their attention to “extinguishing any smoldering material and reinforcing control lines,” the cabinet said.
Before it broke containment, the fire was limited to state park land near the Natural Bridge Skylift — an iconic half-mile lift that carries visitors to the ridgetop where the sandstone Natural Bridge is located.
But Monday night that lift, which is similar to a ski lift, was used to “ferry firefighters up the mountain,” the all-volunteer Middlefork Fire and Rescue said in a Facebook post thanking Steve Mann, the lift’s owner. The department isn’t allowed to have vehicles on state forestry land, Staton said, adding that the department’s main “defensive position” was around the lift as the blaze occurred on the ridge top.
Annually, Kentucky has wildfire seasons in the spring and fall. According to the state Energy and Environment Cabinet web page on wildland fires, the spring season typically lasts from Feb. 15 through the end of April.
Howard urged the public in a statement “to use great caution when outdoors or when burning debris during this season.”
During the wildfire season, state law prohibits any person to burn between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. or within 150 feet of woodland or brush.
The Division of Forestry has responded to 628 wildland fires since the beginning of the year and the majority of which were started by outdoor debris burning and arson, the division said. About 10% were started by downed power lines sparking during high-wind events.
Across the state, wildland fires have burned over 10,000 acres this year through Sunday, fire data from the cabinet shows.
This is a developing story and may be updated.
