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PrintCOLUMBIA— The Missouri/Iowa Interagency Coordination Center deployed five Boone County Fire Protection District Wildland Firefighters on Monday to the fire in Smith Flats, west of Lexington, Va., according to a news release from the Fire District.
Chief Greg Rush, Capt. John Timmermann, Lt. Kyle Smith, Lt. Tyler Beauchamp and firefighter David Davenport left to check in at the Coordination Center’s headquarters in Rolla on Monday afternoon. They will board a plane bound for Virginia on Tuesday.
The fire is located primarily in the George Washington National Forest, south of U.S. 64 and west of U.S. 81, and is estimated to have affected 650 acres.
Only 10 percent of the fire has been contained since its start Saturday, according to the news release.
The Associated Press said Monday that firefighters battling the blaze have been hampered by gusting winds.
U.S. Forest Service spokeswoman Donna Wilson told AP that if conditions worsened, firefighters already on the scene might be pulled back because of the danger of falling tree limbs.
According to the news release, the Boone County firefighters will join the 120 firefighters from various state and federal agencies currently on scene.
The Boone County firefighters could be deployed for up to 14 days.
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