Fast-moving marsh fire in Nansemond River under control

Published 6:45 pm Monday, March 28, 2022

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Suffolk and Chesapeake fire crews needed just over an hour to get a fire in a large area of marsh and woods along the waterline of the Nansemond River around the 6100 block of Knotts Neck Road Monday afternoon.

It was first reported as a structure fire at 4:56 p.m. and the first crews arrived eight minutes later, according to Fire Chief Mike Barakey, with Battalion 2 arriving to find heavy smoke in the area.

Due to the fire’s location in the grass and marsh of the river, Battalion 2 asked for Fire Boat 1 to attack the fire from the water.

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Additional firefighters from Engines 10, 25 and 5, as well as others from responding fire units, initiated a fire attack from land to protect structures with hand-lines, Barakey said, as a large area of marsh and woods along the waterline was on fire.

Fire Boat 1 and other land-based fire units remain on the scene to put water on the marsh and work to put out the hotspots.
Barakey said the fire was placed under control at 6:10 p.m.

In addition to the other units, Chesapeake Engine 12, Ladder 5, Ladder 3, Chesapeake Ladder 10, Rescue 1, EMS 2, Safety 1, Medic 5, Medic 9, Tanker 9 and Tanker 1 responded to the fire.