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Fire crews hoping Matts Creek wildfire burns toward James River

Fire officials say more crews are coming.

As of Friday, they have about 250 on scene and more on the way to help fight the Matts Creek wildfire.

Fire crews were sent to several points around the fire last night to install fire lines to keep the fire from continuously spreading.

They also have crews looking at areas near the fire to install containment lines.

Fire leaders say the reason why the fire has burned so much so quickly, more than 5,000 acres is because there is a drought, and there are dead tree limbs and leaves that serve as fuel for the fire.

Firefighters have used leaf blowers and chainsaws in an effort to prevent the fire from spreading and they’re looking at other options.

“They may use dozers if the terrain will support their operations, cause that’s the quickest way in that terrain to get that line in, they try to minimize dozer use,” Joe Mazzeo, with the Southern Red Area Team who is serving as the public information officer for the fire event, said.

Firefighters said some parts of the fire could burn toward the James River, which firefighters said is good.

“We want the fire to burn towards the river because that is what we call control point,” Mazzeo said. “We try to use natural features as much as possible, so if you have a rock face, cliff areas, with limited fuel, that’s the ideal situation, we don’t have to do anything, except monitor that area.”


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