A huge forest fire broke out in Virginia’s only national park, Shenandoah National Park, and the surrounding area, turning a huge amount of forest into ashes and the forest fire continues to spread at a furious pace. According to national park authorities, the forest fire, which appears to have started spontaneously when twigs collided with each other due to strong winds in the Rocky Branch Wildfire in Shenandoah National Park on the afternoon of the 20th, spread significantly to nearby areas and ended at 11 a.m. the next day, the 21st.
Currently, about 460 acres of forest have been burned and it continues to spread. Hundreds of firefighters, residents, and even fire helicopters are working together to extinguish the forest fire, but due to the steepness of the mountain, only 10% of the areas where the fire broke out were barely extinguished, and the remaining 90% of the areas are still burning due to strong winds. I’m having a lot of trouble turning it off.
Due to the forest fire on this day, a vehicle traffic ban was imposed on approximately 55 miles of Skyline Drive Road from Thornton Gap to Matthews Arm, which is well known to Koreans, as well as the nearby Mountain Trails, and from Brahams Gap to Matthews Arm.
The Appalachian Trail was also closed to traffic.
Due to this large-scale forest fire, Page County issued a state of emergency and urgently evacuated residents near the national park, while schools were temporarily closed and a temporary shelter for residents was set up at Luray High School. Additionally, the use of fires, such as cooking or campfires, is completely prohibited in buildings or camping sites within Shenandoah National Park.
It is expected that the next two to three days will be the critical moment in suppressing the large fire in the Shenandoah National Park area, as heavy rain is forecast for Saturday (23rd).