On Saturday morning, Mike Huffman with the North Carolina Forest Service said hard work from firefighters on Friday and gentle rains through the early morning hours Saturday has contained the fire on Sauratown Mountain by 75 percent. Firefighters and Forest Service officials remained at key spots around the south and north sides of the mountain Saturday to monitor the fire, which has now grown to burn more than 300 acres of woods on Sauratown Mountain. For more on the "fire on the mountain," continue to visit thestokesnews.com and look for a full-length story with additional pictures from the incident, which has now spanned three days, on Thursday in the print edition of The Stokes News, also see additional pictures in the reader's photo gallery and by clicking on the big blue button.
At about midnight Thursday night, firefighters on Sauratown Mountain relayed to the command station that the fire had crossed the crest of the mountain onto the north side toward Mountain Top Youth Camp, forcing the evacuation of about 50 people to cots set up at Mount Olive Baptist Church, and some headed home. On Friday morning, crews continued to fight fires on the north side of the mountain with hand rakes and water. Also, firefighters from Yadkin and Guilford counties have joined the crews already battling the fire from Stokes, Surry and Forsyth counties.
The state has reissued a statewide burn ban as of noon today. This means no one is allowed to burn debris outside of 100 feet of a residence.
Charlotte Evans/The Stokes News
Firefighters with 10 Stokes, Surry and Forsyth county fire departments spent Wednesday night into Thursday fighting a brush and woods fire on the side of Sauratown Mountain. The call came out shortly after 5 p.m. Wednesday and began as a 10-acre fire, according to Jonathan Young, Stokes County ranger for the North Carolina Forest Service. A helicopter was dispatched to the scene to drop water from a nearby pond on the fire, which was mostly inaccessible on the side of the mountain due to the treacherous terrain, but, due to high winds and quickly darkening skies, the water drops were unsuccessful. Firefighters spent the duration of the night into the morning hours protecting the homes and communication towers on the mountain until crews could be reorganized in the daylight Thursday and resources could be secured from the North Carolina Forest Service. On Thursday morning, equipment and manpower was dispatched from all of the fire departments in Stokes, Forsyth and Surry counties to help on the daytime attack and to provide coverage while other firefighters had to go to work at their full-time jobs. On Thursday afternoon, the fire had spread to near 100 acres and high winds continued to cause flare ups and jumps in the fire line, which is designed to contain the fire. Young said he does have leads into how the fire started, but is still investigating those at this time. For more information on the fire, continue to visit www.thestokesnews.com as the news continues.
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