Rough Terrain Made Battling Laurel Mountain Fire Challenging

LIGONIER TOWNSHIP (KDKA) -- Fires scorched nearly 30 acres on top of Laurel Mountain near the Westmoreland-Somerset county line over the weekend.

Cory Wentzel, of the Pennsylvania Bureau of Forestry, explained that half the battle was being able to get to the flames.

"It's real rough access, it's hard, lot of rocks, lot of brush, these areas have been cut over, a lot of fuels, it's been real dry hasn't rained in a while," Wentzel said.

The wildlife also reportedly posed a challenge.

"It's tough, it's a very tough situation. You are up here in the mountains, you got a lot, guys come across a couple of rattlesnakes, that was a hindrance as well," Waterford Volunteer Fire Department Assistant Chief Pat Kromel said.

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The first fire started Saturday evening. Firefighters could only drop 500 gallons of water from a helicopter before nightfall. They had to rely on limited supplies of water from ATVs.

"The ATVs are pretty useful. Some of the fire companies have a lot of ATVs. They can go down these rough roads and bring water to the fire," Wentzel said.

Firefighters used tools such as pulaskis and counsel rakes to stop the fire in its tracks.

Crews put more water on the second fire which damaged five acres after it started Sunday morning.

"You very rarely do direct attack in terrain like this, you fall back to a safe spot and then you put a line in and let the fire come to the line," Wentzel said.

There were no homes close to the fires and no one was hurt.

The Pennsylvania Bureau of Forestry is investigating the cause of the flames.