76.7 F
Charlotte Amalie
Friday, March 29, 2024
HomeNewsArchivesWILDFIRE SCORCHES HUNDREDS OF ACRES

WILDFIRE SCORCHES HUNDREDS OF ACRES

Hundreds more acres of St. Croix were scorched over the weekend as high winds pushed wildfire through the parched hills of the island’s West End.
While Saturday’s blazes threatened structures and charred the rolling hills in the Mount Victory, Rose Hill and Mount Stewart areas above the rain forest, no homes were damaged, Fire Services director Pedro Encarnacion said Sunday evening. At least 250 acres caught fire in the Frederiksted district between Friday and Sunday, he said.
"It could be much more," Encarnacion said, adding that fire crews were still in the hills Sunday night extinguishing hot spots. "Several houses were in danger. We made sure we covered them before moving to the outlying areas. So far, we thank the Lord and the firefighters. It’s been some rough days for them."
He said he is "very content with their performance, even with limited resources."
On Friday, fires scorched approximately 100 acres in Estate Mountain and Hogensborg. Most of the acreage that burned on Saturday was grazing land in the sparsely populated hills. Encarnacion said the cause of the blazes is undetermined and they they could have been started accidentally, set on purpose or even ignited spontaneously, perhaps by a bottle reflecting the sun’s rays onto dry grass.
Strong, gusty winds blowing from the east didn’t make battling the fast-moving flames any easier, Encarnacion said. "Sometimes there is so much acreage burning you don’t know where it started," he said. "The winds made it more difficult for us. At times we didn’t have the opportunity to place a truck downwind of the fire."
Rose Hill resident Fritz Lawaetz said the sheer number of fires started in his area makes him believe the blazes are the work of an arsonist. "There’s no way all those could have started by themselves," he said.
On Saturday afternoon, John Tranberg was keeping an eye on the creeping line of flame on top of Mount Victory, occasionally swatting out a hot spot with a branch of tan tan. He said that when he was young, before the advent of bulldozers, land owners regularly burned their property to control the bush. Unlike the weekend’s spate of fires, though, he said, the traditional controlled burning was just that –- controlled.
Fire Services officials recommend that residents in the vicinity of the fires trim bush back from around their homes to lessen the risk of wildfire damaging their property.

Print Friendly, PDF & Email
Keeping our community informed is our top priority.
If you have a news tip to share, please call or text us at 340-228-8784.

Support local + independent journalism in the U.S. Virgin Islands

Unlike many news organizations, we haven't put up a paywall – we want to keep our journalism as accessible as we can. Our independent journalism costs time, money and hard work to keep you informed, but we do it because we believe that it matters. We know that informed communities are empowered ones. If you appreciate our reporting and want to help make our future more secure, please consider donating.