‘Smoke on the mountain’

February 19, 2013

O-N-E PHOTO BY Heather Blanton

Fire fighters from three counties battled a woods fire Monday that charred over ten acres of Little Mountain in eastern Catawba County.

The original call, just before noon, was for Bandys Fire Department to check for a report of “smoke on the mountain” off Tower Road.

The first units on the scene found smoke near the communications towers at the top of the mountain and determined that the fire was on the southern slope and would best be accessed off East Maiden Road.

“It looked to be about ten acres in size when the first fire fighters got there,” North Carolina Forest Ranger David Wright said.

“The terrain was very steep and wooded so conventional fire fighting methods had to be adjusted.”

To read more of this story, pick up the Wednesday edition of Catawba County's community newspaper, The Observer News Enterprise, at newsstands throughout the county.