Home Care In Quaker Gap, NC

Virginia’s governor declared a state of emergency on Tuesday as wildfires burn in Patrick County and Madison County, including within Shenandoah National Park.

The Quaker Run Wildfire in Madison County, about 95 miles southwest of D.C., had burned an estimated 2,480 acres as of Sunday evening, the state forestry department said. Crews are also battling the Tuggles Gap fire in Patrick County, near the North Carolina line.

Images show clouds of smoke above fall leaves, and a U.S. Forest Service helicopter dumping down water.

The emergency declaration will allow Virginia officials to deploy attentional resources, equipment and staff, Gov. Glenn Youngkin said.

“This executive order will ensure that the Commonwealth has additional resources and is using every tool at its disposal to keep Virginians safe,” he said in a statement.

The Madison County fire had not damaged any buildings as of Sunday evening. As a precaution, the county sheriff's office urged residents north of 681 Finks Hollow Lane to evacuate. The forestry department estimated it would take firefighters at least two weeks to completely put out the fire.

What to know about the wildfire’s impact on Shenandoah National Park

The Quaker Run fire had burned about 670 acres within Shenandoah National Park, according to a notice on the National Park Service site on Tuesday afternoon. The fire is burning on the park’s eastern boundary.

The park, Skyline Drive and other facilities remain open as scheduled.

The Whiteoak Canyon and Old Rag trails are open but “at times are impacted by dense smoke which may reach unhealthy to very unhealthy levels,” officials warned.

A fire ban is in effect, meaning that building or using an open fire anywhere in the park is prohibited.

Go here for ongoing updates from the Park Service or here for updates from the Virginia Department of Forestry.

How dry conditions helped the wildfire spread

Dry grasses, fallen leaves, low humidity and windy conditions have combined to create favorable conditions for wildfires to spark and spread, the governor’s office said. Virginia has had 500 wildfires this year, which is “consistent with past years,” the office said.

The U.S. Drought Monitor shows the area under a severe drought.

The Virginia National Guard, Virginia Department of Forestry and Virginia Department of Emergency Management are among the agencies responding to the fire.

Stay with NBC Washington for more details on this developing story.

VIRGINIA — Two wildfires burning in parts of Virginia consumed more than 4,000 acres this week, prompting Gov. Glenn Youngkin to declare a month-long state of emergency as drought conditions continue in the state.

As of Tuesday, the largest fire — the Quaker Run Fire — was partially located in Shenandoah National Park, while the other burned about 200 miles southwest near the Rocky Knob Recreation Area, according to the Virginia Department of Forestry.

Both blazes broke containment lines in recent days and have been fueled by persistent dry and windy conditions, according to Youngkin's executive order.

"The Commonwealth of Virginia is experiencing multiple wildfires around the state due to extremely dry conditions and high winds, both of which are common during the ongoing fall fire season," the executive order stated. "These fires have and may continue to pose a significant threat to public health and safety."

The Quaker Run Fire, located in Madison County, had burned through 3,350 acres of private, state, and federal lands as of 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, including about 670 acres in Shenandoah National Park, according to the Virginia Department of Forestry and the National Park Service.

NPS officials said the fire was located in the central part of the park near the eastern boundary.

On Tuesday evening, state officials said the fire was 40 percent contained.

Officials said the flames were producing heavy smoke Tuesday, affecting the cities of Syria and Madison, which are closest to the fire. Smoke also affected the central portion of Shenandoah National Park Smoke near Big Meadows, Whiteoak, and Old Rag.

A complete fire ban was enacted effective 8 a.m. Monday, NPS officials said. Hikers are encouraged to avoid the central part of the park.

The second fire — dubbed the Tuggles Gap Fire — had consumed about 850 acres as of Tuesday evening and was 75 percent contained.

Several counties across the state have burn bans in place. Check the Virginia Department of Forestry map for the latest bans.

Youngkin's executive order allows the state to assist in firefighter response efforts and provides state funding and Virginia National Guard support.

The wildfires came as parts of western Virginia continued to experience severe drought, according to the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Drought Monitor, while much of the rest of the state remained under moderate drought or abnormally dry conditions.

A roadside inn in Patrick County has helped rally community support for the firefighters battling the Tuggle’s Gap blaze; see feature story below.

Virginia currently has five active wildfires that have each consumed more than 1,000 acres and are only partly contained.

The biggest is the Quaker Run fire in Madison County, which has consumed 3,500 acres, some of those in the Shenandoah National Park. As of Thursday, it was only 40% contained, according the Virginia Department of Forestry.

The second biggest is the Yocum Creek fire in Lee County on the Virginia-Kentucky line, which covers 1,500 acres and is 75% contained, the department said. The Rocklick Fire in Buchanan County covers 1,200 acres and is 57% contained, the Rachel’s Chapel fire in Dickenson County covers 1,100 acres and is 40% contained while Tuggle’s Gap in Patrick County is listed at 1,050 acres and 35% contained.

Patrick County administrator Beth Simms said that firefighters from Patrick, Henry, Floyd, Surry, Carroll, Montgomery and Franklin counties and the city of Martinsville along with the Virginia Department of Forestry, Virginia Department of Emergency Management and National Park Service have responded to the Tuggle’s Gap fire.

In response to the fires, Gov. Glenn Youngkin has declared a state of emergency and the Blue Ridge Parkway has temporarily banned backcountry campfires. Those fire restrictions apply to all backcountry campsites and shelters, but not to the year-round picnic areas.

The U.S. Forest Service has also announced restrictions on fires in the George Washington & Jefferson National Forest. Open fires outside of a developed recreation site are prohibited on national forest lands effective from November 9, 2023, through December 31, 2023. Open fires are banned at any “dispersed recreation site,” including the Appalachian Trail, the Forest Service said in a release. “Fires may be maintained within metal rings, burn pits, or grills within developed recreation sites. Propane and other fuel powered camp stoves are still permitted.”

Virginia will get some help on Friday as fairly widespread rain develops as a low-pressure system moves along a cold front stalling to the south. The rain will be light, mostly under one-half inch, so it won’t be nearly enough to fully relieve ongoing drought. Falling rain and humidity values with the rain will help crews contain existing fires, however.

No further rain is expected beyond Saturday morning through late next week, however, as temperatures cool down to near seasonal levels — 50s/60s highs, 20s/30s lows — before slowly warming again.

Most of the western two-thirds of Virginia is in moderate to severe drought on the newest U.S. Drought Monitor map issued Thursday, with a small area from northern Rockbridge and Bath counties northward through Augusta and Rockingham counties raised to extreme drought.

Cardinal News weather journalist Kevin Myatt contributed to this report. He discussed the drought in his weekly weather column.

Patrick County lodge becomes center for community support for firefighters battling Tuggle’s Gap blaze

By John Hopkins

Nick Bieneck is perched on a director’s chair in the pine-paneled lobby at Tuggle’s Gap, his roadside lodge near the Blue Ridge escarpment where a wildfire earlier this week climbed the steep mountainside just tens of yards from the Blue Ridge Parkway.

Bieneck’s guests this week have been firefighters and other emergency workers focused on the wildfire, which by Thursday afternoon had consumed roughly 1,050 acres and threatened a score of homes and farm buildings. As of early afternoon, none of the buildings had been burned, said Beth Simmons, the Patrick County administrator, and a westerly breeze was telling the firefighters their work wasn’t done.

With two laptop computers and a mobile phone, Bieneck coordinates what is needed to feed the emergency workers and provide them showers and a resting place between their shifts. An outpouring of aid from nearby communities — Floyd, Woolwine, Meadows of Dan and beyond — has been shuttled in to multiply what Bieneck could provide from Tuggle’s Gap.

“I like doing this,” Bieneck said, looking out toward Virginia 8 and the stacks of bottled water and Gatorade in his driveway. Teams of arriving firefighters would heft a dozen or so bottles into their pickup or van before starting down the mountain to catch up with the fire. Bieneck found nearby quarters for his normal guests as the firefighters indicated they’d need to stay to the weekend.

Bieneck feels like he was born to event management. His father organized trade shows and Nick studied the sound systems used in large outdoor venues. He found Southwest Virginia years ago as a contractor for Floyd Fest. He took a liking to the Tuggle’s Gap Roadside Inn, a motel and restaurant since 1938, and when it came up for sale he and his father, Bjorn, bought it in 2021.

So far the fire has been confined to Patrick County. It was about 35% contained by Thursday afternoon, Simms said.

She made a point of expressing “heartfelt gratitude” for Bieneck and the merchants and individuals who contributed meals, snacks, water and hygiene items for the emergency workers — many or most of them volunteers. Anyone wishing to donate may bring nonperishable goods and small items such as nutrition bars to Tuggle’s Gap Roadside Inn, on Virginia 8 just off the parkway. The inn’s Facebook page has been keeping people informed about current needs.

Below are screenshots of some of the requests the inn has posted:

On October, 22, 1734, near Birdsboro, Pennsylvania, a small, insignificant lad came-forth from the womb. His father, along with a few hundred Quakers, had migrated from England in 1713 to escape persecution. He had married Sarah (another Quaker immigrant from Wales) and the two briefly celebrated their sixth child—of which there would eventually be eleven.

There was precious little time to rejoice. Cattle to tend, iron to blacksmith, cloth to weave; all occupations of the growing family. There was also little time for proper education. And it was perhaps this inattentive-style of tutoring—along with the official family-job of protecting cattle from predators—that led to the youngsters eventual passion for hunting and wanderlust.

Today, his birthplace—with a version of the original homestead, a museum, blacksmithing shop and a farm—is notably preserved and honored by the state of Pennsylvania.

Our pioneer’s story, in affirmation of his itchy-feet, eventually ended rather far away from Pennsylvania. Perpetually in search of the next-best-wilderness, and earlier, having lost all his property in Kentucky (in large measure due to inattentive legal documentation), he spent his final 21 years hunting and exploring in the Spanish-held Louisiana Territory (in what would become Missouri).

Noting his historical significance, Missouri designated his old homestead as a historical site and listed it on the National Register of Historic Places. A stone house, built by his son, and all the trappings of a late 18th-century pioneer farm, are attended regularly by tourists and history buffs.

Somewhere in the middle of his life, our frontiersman was hired by a North Carolina land speculator to build a trail and establish a fort in Kentucky. Purchased from the Cherokee, who argued the Shawnee didn’t own the land, he engineered a trail through the Cumberland Gap (bordering Virginia, Tennessee and Kentucky) into northeastern Kentucky.

After erecting a fort, he, along with a small cadre of families, fought-off Shawnee attackers during the American Revolution. His daring perseverance in the face of life-and-limb danger opened up Kentucky for settlement (his Wilderness Trail was traversed by over 200,000 pioneers headed west).

This period of our adventurer’s life is gladly portrayed by the state of Kentucky at Boonesborough State Park, where a full-on replica of the fort commemorates his exploits and near-misses.

After his childhood/teenage years in Pennsylvania, but prior to his moxie-filled days in Kentucky and lengthy retirement in Missouri, our explorer spent some early-adult adventuring years—twenty-one to be exact—in North Carolina.

By the time Daniel Boone’s parents moved their family from Pennsylvania to North Carolina in 1750, he was on his way to becoming an accomplished longhunter—hunting for months at a time, far from home and family, in the hopes of procuring a large stash of hides and meat.

Residing near Mocksville, about 23-miles east of present-day Statesville, Boone met and married Rebecca Bryan, fathered nine children, fought in Lord Dunmore’s War, skirmished against the Cherokee and Shawnee, and began his longhunting forays into Tennessee and Kentucky—all while being a Tar Heel.

Oddly enough, not many people are aware of these days. Especially people who live in North Carolina.

In fact, beyond a few mentions in NC history museums, sparse log cabin displays, history markers, foot trails and outdoor dramas, comparatively speaking, Daniel Boone is somewhat of a mysterious, forgotten frontiersman of North Carolina. What’s that all about?

To the 1960’s mind, “…Daniel Boone was a man, yes, a big man; with an eye like an eagle and as tall as a mountain was he” (if you’re over the age of 50, who could forget the TV-series theme song, or Fess Parker and the 165-episodes of Dan’l, Mingo and his always-on-the-mark rifle, ticklicker).

As a 12-year old Boone-enthusiast, I recall visiting the town of Cherokee, where—of all places—Daniel Boone memorabilia was in high fashion. I have photos of my kids still wearing the fringed-laced, leather pull-over I bought for $24.99. My complimentary coonskin cap, a Hollywood invention that Boone never adorned, was worn to oblivion.

Looking back, these memories caused me to believe North Carolinians revered the well-traveled trail-blazer. In retrospect, maybe it was just marketing hype.

Today—at best—postmodern youth seem to view Boone as a vague western character, or possibly the name of a restaurant. “Wasn’t he at the Alamo?” (no). “Was he a cowboy?” (nope). “Oh yeah, he was the guy that cut down trees with Paul Bunyan” (not really). Isn’t there a restaurant named after him? (yep).

For some reason, many young Carolinians are also obtusely confident that Daniel Boone must’ve lived in Boone, NC. Although he didn’t, that seems reasonable for a generation that’s barely acquainted with his story.

Considering his name is attached to a couple hundred establishments hoping to cash-in on his exploits, it’s an interesting conundrum.

Maybe it’s time for a Daniel Boone Museum in Mocksville (currently, along with a town of 5,216 people, there are two gravestones bearing the names of his mother and father). Boone, NC seems like a suitable spot for a Frontier Heritage Center.

Come to think of it, it’s not too much of a stretch to envision a Daniel Boone Center in Black Mountain—where Boone apparently passed through on a number of occasions.

Honestly, it doesn’t really matter where you build it. A museum or memorial anywhere west of Charlotte would do (the man loved to wander).

His sensitivities don’t really jive with 21st-century America; but the guy had an amazing life and an incredible impact on colonial America—a fact Pennsylvania, Kentucky and Missouri have seemed to notice. Not to mention, 21-years in North Carolina produced some exceedingly good stories.

It’s about time our kids heard them.