Ohiopyle State Park returning to 'normal' after nearly 500-acre forest fires

Crews on Friday continued to mop up hot spots from two forest fires at opposite ends of Ohiopyle State Park in Fayette County after they consumed nearly 500 acres of woodlands, according to authorities.

Ed Callahan, district forester of Forbes State Forest, said it is among the worst forest fires in region in the past decade. The forest includes more than 60,000 acres stretching from Ohiopyle north through Somerset and Westmoreland counties.

The first fire, along Dunbar Road in a state game lands, was reported just after 5 p.m. Thursday and consumed more than 250 acres before firefighters were able to extinguish the flames at around 1 a.m. Friday, Fayette County 911 officials said.

A second fire was reported a short time later near Victoria Flats and Rock Spring roads. That blaze destroyed more than 200 acres of woods along the Youghiogheny River before crews were able to get it under control.

“We’ve had large fires before and this one is a very large forest fire for Pennsylvania. We’ve had fires that large before in that Victoria Flats area … approximately 10 years ago,” Callahan said.

“That Victoria Flats area has been a problem area because of the railroad tracks that go through there. Now, we haven’t had a chance to determine official cause because we’ve been working fighting the fires, but with that railroad track running through there when it’s dry … a spark from a train can set it off,” Callahan said.

Jessica Kruse of Falls Market General Store in Ohiopyle doubted that tourism would be impacted. She said visitors couldn’t see the charred terrain from the popular falls area in the borough.

“Yesterday afternoon there was smoke, but today it’s back to normal,” said Kruse, who is also a borough councilwoman.

According to Callahan, the gusty winds that blew through the area Thursday helped spread the fires.

“Those strong wind gusts really make it spread fast,” he said.

Park officials said 74 crews from departments in Westmoreland and Fayette responded to the incidents along with teams from the state’s forestry department.

“Our crews worked throughout the night. The rain certainly did help, but I’m told they did not get as much rain down there as we got in parts of Westmoreland County,” said Callahan, who works out of the state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources Forestry office in Laughlintown, Westmoreland County.

No injuries were reported.

“There was one structure in the Victoria Flats area we were concerned about, but it made it OK,” Callahan said.

Crews were working Friday putting out smoldering spots and cutting tree limbs that were still burning.

“We hope to be completely wrapped up by Friday evening and then we’ll work on determining the causes,” he said.