NATURAL BRIDGE, Va. – UPDATE - Tuesday evening
The Matts Creek wildfire has stalled at 11,020 acres and is now 57% contained.
UPDATE - Tuesday morning
The Matts Creek wildfire has reached 11,016 acres and is still 33% contained.
UPDATE - Sunday morning
The Matts Creek wildfire has grown to 7,614 acres in size.
ORIGINAL STORY
The Matts Creek wildfire has reached almost 7,000 acres and is 15 percent contained. The crew’s main goal Saturday was to have control lines around the entire perimeter of the fire.
As of Saturday, there is still no determined cause for what started the Matts Creek wildfire.
“We didn’t see the actual fire at night, but we see it during the day, we see all the smoke, and you just wonder how this ever got started,” Becky Owen, a Madison Heights resident said.
All hands are on deck. There are close to 200 people working to put this blaze to rest. Crews are continuing to hold the fire in the South and Southeast for wind to potentially move in from the Northwest, this includes a structure protection group for buildings along the Blue Ridge Parkway and Hunt Camp Road.
“As of today, as the wind conditions are coming in, that’s when it is a little more risky with wildfire and you just want to be prepared and you want to be on the watch, so they are out, you’ll see them out and about, they are working in conjunction with Forest Fire Department and Boonsboro Fire Department to come in and work together,” Janet Blankenship, Bedford County Fire and Rescue Chief said.
The public information officer for the Southern Area Incident Management Team, Joe Mazzeo said this wildfire is helpful in some ways.
“Decomposing the leaves and woody materials which normally would take a year or two years to naturally decompose the fire just rapidly takes care of that, puts some nutrients back in the ground, so it’s beneficial all the way around. And the wildlife loves the new stuff,” Mazzeo said.
Chief Blankenship said, as of Saturday, there is no evacuation order in Bedford County.