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WEKU
John McGary

Forestry officials: ‘Natural Bridge fire is out’

The fire at Natural Bridge State Park that had 100 federal and state firefighters on scene last week is a thing of the past. Kessley Baker is a wildfire mitigation specialist with the state Division of Forestry. She spent five days there last week.

“As of today, it is 100% controlled. So we actually have pulled off our resources. The fire is out.”

For several days last week, the Natural Bridge fire grew. Firefighters from the state Division of Forestry and U.S. Forest Service were hampered by the rugged terrain, high winds and low humidity. That began to change late in the week, and half an inch of rain Friday night helped turn the tide. Baker said the teamwork between state and federal crews was impressive.

“The unified command was absolutely fantastic. And the crews that we had on this incident, you know, worked hard, and fortunately, even though we had some a little bit dangerous fire weather. Nothing significant happened.”

The trails at Natural Bridge remain closed – as does the sky lift firefighters used to get to the upper areas of the fire.

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