Gloucester

Brush Fires in Guinea

Web Editor Jenny Diaz

On March 15, 2019 in Guinea, Virginia, a brush fire broke out around 2:00 p.m. in the afternoon in the Jenkins Neck area. The Abington Volunteer Fire and Rescue (AVFR) were there for over an hour in a half getting the fire out that started. The fire started due to the wind and the rain that came right after it. The rain and the wind made it hard for the firefighters to put out the fires, though the brush fires were eventually put out by three fire trucks. Tanker 3 was one of the firetrucks to put out the marsh fires that happened over the weekend and they did it along with the help of tanker 21 as well. The Gloucester County Police department (GCPO) was also at the fire to help the Abington Volunteer Fire and Rescue with the traffic control and other issues if needed.

During the brush fires, one of the volunteers that helped put out the fires found a snapping turtle who was still alive but shell had been burned during the fire. Then firefighters were able to get the brush fires out at 4:58 p.m. Friday afternoon. Then on Saturday March 16, 2019 another brush fire had broken out due to high winds. The Abington Volunteer Fire and Rescue were called again around 1:00 in the afternoon on Saturday to help get another fire brush out in Guinea. The fire took another hour in a half to get out because the high winds Saturday afternoon that was making the fires spread even further than before causing the firefighters to close the road to get the fire out around 2:00 p.m. in the afternoon the Abingdon Volunteer Fire and Rescue, finally had gotten the fires out.

The brush fires damaged most of the brush in Guinea and also caused many animals that were living in the brush to lose their homes, such as that snapping turtle that the saved during the fire. The Abington Volunteer Fire and Rescue did a very good job of getting the fires out in time before anything worse could possible happen, also the Gloucester County Police (GCPO) were also a big help with directing traffic and helping with other issue, if there were any during the time of the fires or even after the fires due to the fire trucks leaving the Guinea road.