Gusty winds and dry conditions kept area fire crews busy over the weekend, with seven brush fires reported between Friday and Sunday across Rockbridge County, Lexington and Buena Vista.
Rockbridge County Fire Chief Nathan Ramsey said the weekend brought seven brush fires since Friday, in addition to multiple calls for downed trees.
One of the first fires broke out Saturday morning near the Glasgow boat landing, around 10:30.
“It was a small brush fire. I think that one started from someone having a campfire,” Ramsey said. “It didn’t take long — it was out in about two hours.”
Later that day, crews responded to another brush fire on Blacks Creek Road, which was caused by a downed electric line. Lexington and Effinger fire departments handled that call.
Ramsey said several other fires were minor ember-driven incidents related to the wind, with no major damage reported.
The windy conditions also led to a series of downed-tree calls. “We had six calls for trees down because of the wind,” Ramsey said. “Honestly, it wasn’t as many as I thought it would be, considering how intense the wind was.”
The most significant incident of the weekend was a structure fire at Dirty Dog Depot on South Lee Highway (see related story), which grew into a brush fire on the hillside behind the business.
Despite the volume of calls, Ramsey said all fires were contained quickly and no large wildland fire activity occurred.
