The fire at Red River Gorge, which is a canyon system on the Red River in Stanton Kentucky, began Oct. 24th. This area features an abundance of sandstone cliffs, rock shelters, waterfalls, hiking trails, campsites, and natural bridges making it very popular to the public in central Kentucky. U.S. Forest Service officials saw three suspects fleeing the scene. These suspects were also caught on surveillance cameras at Wal-Mart in Dry Ridge, KY buying camping supplies.
Since Oct. 8th, Red River Gorge has had a strict burn ban due to weather conditions and the drought Kentucky is currently experiencing. This ban was placed to protect the wooded areas from fires spreading and causing major damage like this fire did, which damaged approximately 1,600 acres of the Gorge’s trails and surrounding area. This fire has actually been called a complex fire because it has multiple areas of damage and has also closed down hiking trails and part of a major highway.
The fire has been declared 95% contained and will not be 100% until officials stop seeing smoke and are positive spreading will not continue. The U.S. Forest Service expects to have the fire completely contained by the end of the week.
Categories:
Red River Gorge Fire Still Uncontained
November 6, 2010
Donate to Big Blue Student Media
Your donation will support the student journalists of University of Kentucky School of Journalism and Media. Your contribution will allow us to purchase equipment and cover our annual website hosting costs.
More to Discover
