Wildfire in West Virginia, November 9 to 24, 1999

A week after the last significant rains on the 2nd, a second round of Indian Summer weather boosted afternoon temperatures into the upper 60s to the upper 70s on the 9th. Brush fires increased across southern West Virginia. Most of the fires were set by arsonists. The West Virginia Division of Forestry estimated about 38,000 acres burned in this region of the state during the 15 day episode.On Wednesday afternoon the 10th, a ridgetop house near Verdunville of Logan County was destroyed by a brush fire. The house was valued by forestry personnel at about $10,000. At 12:30 pm on Monday the 15th, a 25 year old female nurse was killed when a burnt tree fell off a 30 foot cliff and crushed her vehicle on Route 49 near Lynn of Mingo County. She was driving to call on a customer in the home health business. She was 9 months pregnant. The child she was carrying could not be saved. A deputy sheriff said, "That was just the freakiest accident I've seen, just another second and she would've lived." Approximately, 100 National Guard troops were activated by the governor during the 3rd week of the month to help extinguish the fires. The brush fires lingered into deer season, as the dry weather continued. Afternoon temperatures rose into the 60s and 70s again on the 22nd and 23rd. Additional smoke from fires in southeast Kentucky added to the restricted visibility and discomfort across southern West Virginia. A widespread 48 hour rain of 2 to 3.5 inches fell around Thanksgiving, the 25th. It was the heaviest precipitation event in 1999 to date for much of this region. This abruptly ended the autumn fire season. Also, this rain event was the first precipitation to start the normal winter recharge of the depleted ground water from the drought of 1998-99.