Hurricane Irene May Help Fight Major Refuge Fire

Hurricane Irene could bring beneficial rains to the 6,000-acre
Lateral West Fire at Great Dismal Swamp National Wildlife Refuge
and Dismal Swamp State Park. The Southern Area Type 2 Incident Team
fighting the fire has its eye on the storm, expected to pass over
the Virginia/North Carolina refuge early Sunday morning, August 28.
Tim Craig, the Fish and Wildlife Service’s refuge fire management
officer, cautioned, “Eight inches of rain will not put the fire
out, but it will buy us time to clear the way through the downed
trees back to the fire zone after the storm.”