Crews continued to battle a brush fire Sunday that broke out late Friday on Neversink Mountain in suburban Reading.
The fast-spreading fire was caused by dry conditions and was intensified when wind gusts peaked at 55 km/h just before 2am on Saturday.
Windy conditions continued as firefighters worked around the clock to bring the fire under control.
By Sunday morning the worst was over.
“We’re getting a real break today,” said Richard Deppen, assistant forest manager for the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources’ forestry division, or DCNR. “The fire is no longer very active. It’s kind of creeping, smoldering.”
The division is leading the firefighting and cleanup operation, which is expected to last several days.
The fire’s cause and place of origin are still under investigation, Deppen said, noting it involves about 120 hectares of forest, down from the 170 initially estimated.
Crews continue to fight fire on Neversink Mountain in Reading updated]
Charred leaves littered woodlands near Ganter Lane, where several private homes are located.
Although much of the fire was contained to the understory, Deppen noted that some areas were affected by tree canopies.
The wildfire could have been much worse without the work of highly skilled firefighters from the state Forestry Division and the assistance of trained crews from the City Fire Department and other municipalities in Berks County.
The fire still smolders on Neversink Mountain in Cumru Township on Sunday, Nov. 10, 2024. (BILL UHRICH/READING EAGLE)
Deppen said crews worked Friday evening through Saturday and Sunday to prevent the fire from spreading to nearby buildings and causing further damage to the mountain’s public and private lands, parts of which are in the city and the lower Alsace and the townships of Cumru. .
Their work has been hampered in some cases by hikers, mountain bikers and the curious entering areas with active fire, Deppen said.
One man was nearly struck by a burning tree felled by firefighters, he noted.
Deppen calls on the public to stay off the mountain until the danger has passed.
“It is for your own safety and that of my people,” he said.
Mayor Eddie Moran also issued a statement asking people to stay off the mountain and let crews do their work.
Richard Deppen, assistant forest manager for the state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, greets a fire crew arriving from Loyalsock State Forest in northern Pennsylvania at the South Ninth Street Fire Command Center on Sunday, Nov. 10, 2024. (BILL UHRICH/READING EAGLE)
Reinforcements from Loyalsock State Forest in northern Pennsylvania arrived at the fire command center on South Ninth Street shortly after 9 a.m. Sunday.
The new crew quickly got to work building another two miles of fire lines, paths with cleared vegetation that stop the spread of a fire.
In the woods behind the 1400 block of Fairview Street, another crew worked to repair and restore the previously constructed lines.
“What we do to control forest fires is to remove the fuel,” Deppen explains.
Leaves and other material are removed through the mineral soil, which typically contains more moisture, he said.
“But we have been in drought for 41 days, so it is very dry,” he said. “So that soil, if it has organic material in it at all, will burn and creep underground and smolder and then emerge outside our containment area.”
Crews continue to monitor the lines for hotspots.
Crews create a fire line behind homes in the 1400 block of Fairview Street in Reading on Sunday, November 10, 2024. (BILL UHRICH/READING EAGLE)
They also used controlled burning to remove leaves and other fuel to help keep the fire from spreading.
It’s a method that requires knowledge, planning and extreme caution, Deppen said.
“We are very careful about using fire on the ground,” he said. “You know, we’re going through a whole plan to make sure all the resources are in place. So if we get a point (fire) over the line, we can jump on it.
In addition to those digging the fire lines and laying fire on the ground, he said, several crew members are working to support the effort by carrying water bladder bags and tools.
The firefighters use Utility Task Vehicles, or UTV, on the hilly and wooded terrain, inaccessible to larger apparatus.
Deppen said the helicopters used to drop water bombs on burning parts of the forest on Saturday afternoon could not be deployed on Sunday due to limited visibility caused by cloud cover.
He hoped to fly a drone using infrared technology to detect any hotspots on the mountain.
Other equipment, such as pump trucks and ladder trucks, were also used Saturday to protect homes and other buildings at risk from the fire. Some of the larger vehicles remained at the scene Sunday.
DCNR is investing many different resources in the fight against the Neversink fire, Deppen said, especially because of the threat to nearby city buildings and the homes scattered across the mountain.
No residents were injured in the fire, but one firefighter reportedly suffered minor injuries due to the fire.
The American Red Cross Pennsylvania Rivers Chapter has established an evacuation center for affected residents of Amanda E. Stout Elementary School. It was closed at noon on Saturday when the evacuation order was lifted.
