The faint smell of smoke surrounding the city Tuesday morning is coming from two large wildfires in Nelson and Amherst counties, according to Charlottesville Fire Department Chief Andrew Baxter.
The situation in Nelson County, referred to as Eades Hollow Fire, is currently consuming between 300 and 500 acres of private land just north of Lovingston, according to John Miller, the Virginia Department of Forestry’s director of emergency management. He says he expects his crew to finish containment lines late today and there is no immediate threat to the public.
In Amherst County, however, the Mount Pleasant Fire has taken over 2,711 acres as of this morning, with the majority of it consuming national forest land, which is controlled by the United States Forest Service, and with less than 10 percent of the fire contained at this time.
Miller says his department is working with the national forest service to evacuate some private homes scattered along the southern side of the area. With new resources, he says he hopes progress will be made in containing the fire today.