Local forest rangers Matt Nelson from Nassau County and Mike Seymour from Clay County returned last week from a 12-day assignment fighting the 6,453-acre Chestnut Knob Fire in South Mountain State Park in North Carolina.
Nelson and Seymour were part of a strike team of six wildland engines from the Florida Forest Service deployed to Morganton, N.C. on Nov. 24 to help contain and extinguish the fire in the mountainous terrain. The team worked in steep, dangerous conditions mopping up hot spots in remote locations inside the fire perimeter. They faced many hazards working in these burned areas including falling trees, burning stump holes and the constant threat of rekindling flames from pine needles and leaves falling on hot ash.
The firefighters also worked to rehabilitate fire lines that were put in throughout the forest to stop the spread of the fire. Nelson and Seymour primarily used hand tools like rakes, shovels, hoes and chainsaws to stir and extinguish the hot ash. Leaf litter was the primary fuel source for this fire and those leaves blow easily with the wind often spreading fire outside of the perimeter.
“The terrain was very steep and at times, we had to hold on to trees to keep from slipping down the hill,” Nelson said.
The assignment was arduous and the days were long, but as any FFS firefighter will say, it’s a labor of love.
During the height of this extraordinary fall fire season, the FFS had 110 personnel deployed to Mississippi, Louisiana, North Carolina, Tennessee, Kentucky and Georgia, and on federal lands in Florida.