Officials from The Department of Conservation and Natural Resources said they expect the wildfires in Cumberland County to continue burning in the coming days.
The Department of Conservation and Natural Resources officials said they expect the wildfires in Cumberland County to continue burning for the next few days and there is still "no containment" of the flames.
The dry and gusty conditions have made it difficult for crews to contain the fires, as over one-thousand acres have been burned at Michaux State Park.The Thompson Hollow Fire has grown to 1,150 acres and the Hammond's Rock Fire has expanded to about 200 acres. Cindy Adams Dunn, the DCNR secretary, gave an update to media around 4:30 p.m. Friday, saying the focus right now is "managing" the flames as hotter conditions are expected later this weekend. "We expect the fires to expand, but more slowly," she said. "We're not going to see the same fire behavior we saw yesterday. The wind's a little less, there's more humidity in the air, so we're hoping for a much less aggressive fire behavior." Don't be surprised if the fire still expands somewhat, we're setting up the boundaries and they'll expand into those boundaries and we'll do backfires to really tamper it down. It's too early to say what the final outcome will be, we'll be on this fire for days ahead. A fire of this size can be up to a week of activity for us. Pitch Pine and Mountain Laurel covering much of the forest has also made it difficult for crews in terms of containing the spread."We have a ways to go before we're out of the woods, so to speak," said Adams Dunn. Voluntary evacuations are being mandated by Cumberland County EMS and fire departments for an abundance of caution. Sensitive groups might be more inclined to evacuate the area due to the smoke in the area and how it might affect their health, according to DCNR. As for people trying to enjoy the state forest's nature, officials are "encouraging people to go recreate elsewhere," in Adams Dunn's words."We really work to protect structures," said Adams Dunn. "When a structure becomes threatened, we really throw everything at it. That's where you get the air drops, you know, that's where you get the on-the-ground support." Officials urge no open burning and no burning of debris. Professionals recommend calling for help if you see a brush fire, as they see fatalities every year of people trying to put them out themselves. ____ added there's about 150 personnel fighting the fires right now. Volunteer fire departments and out-of-state responders have been called toShe elaborated, saying that drones are in the area, they have to ground aircrafts that are bringing water to fight the fires.Donations are being accepted, but DCNR said money is the most useful thing to everyone right now as it allows people to buy what they need, whether it be water or trucks. Other wildfires were reported in Cumberland County on Thursday, but have not grown to the size of the one at the state forest.
Evacuation Containment Fire Behavior Michaux State Forest Cumberland County Wildfires Dcnr Local Air Drops
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