See this reference from the Martinsville Bulletin, covering the brush-forest fire near Stuart, VA.

Source: www.Martinsvillebulletin.com Crews contain wildfire 125 acres burn in Patrick County Thursday, April 12, 2012 By DEBBIE HALL - Bulletin Staff Writer About 125 acres burned before a brush fire that began Tuesday afternoon in Stuart was contained early Wednesday morning. Steve Allen, emergency coordinator in Patrick County, said about 125 acres were consumed before more than 100 firefighters contained the blaze between 3 and 4 a.m. Wednesday. The fire began Tuesday afternoon, and strong winds pushed the blaze up a ridge behind Ten Pin Bowling Alley in Stuart and other areas west, including Hall’s Propane, which is adjacent to W&W Produce. After jumping the four-lane U.S. 58, the fire continued through the woods in areas near Mount Calvary Church Road, Allen said. Residents there were evacuated, he said, and some spent the night with relatives while others stayed at the Landmark Center. A shelter also was available at Rotary Field in Stuart. The shelter had been disassembled early Wednesday, and affected residents were able to return to their homes, Allen said from the staging area in the parking lot of the former Food Lion store. He did not know how many homes or residents were evacuated, but fire officials on Tuesday estimated at least 20 homes were in the affected area. Battling the blaze through the night, firefighters contended not only with the strong winds but also steep, rugged terrain and darkness, Allen said. Firefighters used hand lines — manually raking leaves and debris out of the path of the blaze — and plow lines to eventually bring the fire under control, Allen said. There were no injuries and no reports of the loss of homes or other structures, Allen said. Several fire crews remained in the woods Wednesday, working with the Virginia Department of Forestry to ensure the blaze remained knocked down, he added. “Everybody that is here now either has been here all night or went home for a few hours and came back,” Allen said Wednesday morning, as some firefighters returned to the staging area to eat breakfast. “It’s been a long night,” he said. The cause of the blaze is not known, he said. Henry County Fire Marshal Rodney Howell said that regardless of the cause, low humidity and other factors almost ensured the fire would get out of control. He cautioned residents against starting open-air fires while humidity is low and winds high. “I wouldn’t start one at all right now,” Howell said. “Until we have significant rain, it’s just so dry.” A small spark or overlooked ember could start a brush fire in the current conditions, which include low humidity, no recent rain, little snow during the winter and other factors. There have been several brush fires already in Henry County, Howell said. The two most recent ones were Sunday and Monday on Crestview Drive in Bassett and Laurel Lane in Axton, respectively. Howell said the blaze in Bassett — the result of a child playing with matches — consumed 15 acres before it was brought under control. He did not know what started the blaze in Axton. However, this time of year, low humidity is “probably the largest issue,” he said. “Anytime the humidity is down below 20 percent, it really increases the fire risk.” Also this time of the year, “the humidity is low and there are differing temperature extremes, between warm and cold. As a result, we get a lot of wind,” he said. There is no shortage of fuel because leaves on the ground “have already had a chance to cure out, and we’ve not had a lot of snowfall” which would have made those leaves lay flat, Howell said. Without snow, the cured leaves curl up, which “exposes more of the leaf to surface air” and makes a fire burn faster, he said. “We saw that” Tuesday with the fires in Stuart, Howell said, adding that “some spot fires occurred 200 to 300 feet from the main body” of fire. It “started on one side of the ridge then burned up through” woods to the top of another ridge before it “jumped not only one side of the hill, but it also jumped four lanes of U.S. 58, the Mayo River and the new bypass,” Howell said. “Flying embers were traveling that far ... A good 300 feet, easily.” Howell and others from public safety, the Henry County Sheriff’s Office and several fire departments in Henry County went to Stuart to help battle the blaze. Henry County’s Multi-Agency Command Center remained in Stuart all Tuesday night, and the last Henry County fire crew “came off the mountain at 3:30” a.m. Wednesday, Howell said. Other crews from Henry County returned to Stuart on Wednesday to continue working on the blaze, which began in the Poorhouse Creek Road area.