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Great Dismal Swamp Fire Burns Out

By: Sharon Rae // November 23, 2011
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A fiery tornado rages off Corapeake Road in the Lateral West Wildlfire on Great Dismal Swamp National Wildlife Refuge in August. The fire, which burned for more than three months, was finally determined to be extinguished this week.  
Greg Sanders, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (http://www.flickr.com/photos/usfwsnortheast/6044721273)
A fiery tornado rages off Corapeake Road in the Lateral West Wildlfire on Great Dismal Swamp National Wildlife Refuge in August. The fire, which burned for more than three months, was finally determined to be extinguished this week.  

 

A southeastern Virginia wildfire that's been burning for months is now out, according to the Associated Press. The wildfire at the Great Dismal Swamp National Wildlife Refuge smoldered for more than 3 months.

Officials surveying the burn area say they now find no evidence of smoke, and an aerial review this week confirms that the fire is extinguished. The blaze started Aug. 4 after a pair of lightning strikes. Smoke from the fire reached as far north as Maryland.

The fire consumed more than 6,500 acres and as much as 5 feet of peat soils. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service dispatched hundreds of firefighters to the area over the course of the fire.

 

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