DANIEL TYLER GOODEN and ERIN MARTIN / L’Observateur / October 25, 2000

GRAMERCY – There was a joint effort to fight a swamp fire last week by St.

James and St. John parish officials and the Louisiana Department ofAgriculture and Forestry. The fire had burned out of control on the St.James and St. John parish lines for a couple of days before the LDAF wascontacted and asked what could be done.

By Friday, Oct. 13, the LDAF was on the scene fighting the fire by spreadingthe fire. The plan was to burn off the area that was only going to burnanyway, said Gerald Falgoust, St. James director of the EmergencyOperations Center.

The fire was difficult to fight in any other way. Being three miles back fromany available road, there was no access for fire-fighting vehicles. Also addingto the difficulty was the nature of the fire, which burned up to two feet underground. Burning the surface and the subsurface of the swamp, the firewas able to spread due to the extremely low amount of rainfall in the area for the year.

The best choice was “basically a burn-out to get the burning and smoke pollution over with a fast as possible,” said Billy Pierce, LDAF forest district manager. With no other feasible way to stop the fire it was decided to endthe fire quickly to rid the area of hazardous smoke pollution. Thecombination of smoke and fog had already caused a fatal accident when a car ran into the back of a 18-wheeler due to zero visibility on Louisiana Highway 642.

It was decided that another fire should be started 100 feet from where the first fire was burning. The ground was laced with a mixture of gasoline anddiesel fuel, said Falgoust.

With torches they started small fires, controllable with the minor fire equipment they were able to bring into the swamp. They set fires around theoriginal blaze, and an estimated 500 more acres were impacted, said Falgoust. The crews worked Friday morning until about 7 p.m. Friday evening.The St. James Parish deputies drove the LDAF personnel around the swampwith four-wheelers to place the fires. The St. John Fire and Rescue personnelwere on hand to provide backup if needed, said Falgoust.

An attempt to reach the fires with a four-wheel drive truck resulted in the vehicle being stuck for hours. The swamp was dry enough from the recentdrought that the four-wheelers were able easily maneuver over the terrain.

“This is an area they generally use airboats to drive over,” said Pierce.

Overall the fire consumed 1,000 to 1,100 acres, said Falgoust. The LDAF hasbeen flying over the scene of the fire twice a day to check the condition of the burning. As of Monday’s fly-overs, “It looks like its burning out in allareas,” said Pierce.

The cause of the fire was unknown.

(Erin Martin is a Lutcher High School student)

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