Multiple wildfires burn across Virginia
LURAY, Va— Crews were battling scores of wildfires Thursday around Virginia, including a fire affecting hundreds of acres at Shenandoah National Park, amid an elevated fire risk, officials said.
More than 100 new fires popped up Wednesday amid gusty winds and low relative humidity, affecting more than 2½ square miles across the state, many of them in the central part of the state, Virginia Department of Forestry spokesperson Cory Swift said by telephone.
Shenandoah County officials announced Thursday that five homes were lost due to a fire northwest of Strasburg.
At least 16 fires were contained and hundreds of firefighters worked overnight to contain the others, Swift said. Amid high winds, officials were seeing some downed powerlines causing fires, he said.
A fire that started on private land in the Luray area of Page County spread very quickly into Shenandoah National Park, reaching about 450 acres by Thursday morning, park spokesperson Claire Comer said by telephone. The majority of the fire is inside the 200,000-acre park and is about 10% contained, she said.
Page County and Louisa County officials declared a state of emergency Wednesday evening.
Wildfires were also reported Wednesday in neighboring Maryland and West Virginia.
Crews contained a 60-acre fire in a wooded area in Barnesville, Md., that was believed to have been started by a downed power line, county Fire & Rescue Service spokesperson Pete Piringer said on social media. Another fire that broke out in a wooded area in Silver Spring on Wednesday night was visible from the Capital Beltway, he said.
In West Virginia, Gov. Jim Justice declared a state of emergency Thursday in the northeastern counties of Grant, Hampshire, Hardy, and Pendleton. In Hardy County, an undetermined number of structures have burned from wind-whipped flames, according to a Facebook post from the Bruceton Brandonville Volunteer Fire Department.