Two of the four fires that have damaged more than 40,000 of woodlands in Louisiana are under control, according to the Southern Area Complex Incident Management Gold Team. The Lions Camp Road and Elizabeth wildfires are 100 percent contained. Vernon Parish Sheriff Sam Craft says fire crews have spent nearly a month trying to get the Lions Camp Road fire controlled.
“Not a single home was lost during that Lions Camp fire. I think around 800 acres of timber and land burned but nobody’s home or nobody’s residence.”
Authorities have confirmed that the cause of the Lions Camp Fire was arson. The fire started at the end of Vernon Park Road near the Lions Camp neighborhood. Craft says the fire began to burn really slow but within minutes was out of control.
“It’s just due to the extreme drought and the amount of fuel that was you know that was laying on the ground that was so dry.”
Craft says rain prevented any jumps or hot spots from reigniting. He says firefighters from across the country were amazed at the number of wildfires around the state.
“I’ve talked to several guys. We had a lot of guys from other states that were here. And several of them commented, “this should not be happening in Louisiana. This should be fire we see out west maybe.”
Anyone with information about the Tiger Island fire or any other arson-related wildfires should call the State Fire Marshal, or local law enforcement.
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