West Mahanoy firefighters battle brush fire near Shen. Heights

KAYLEE LINDENMUTH / SHENANDOAH SENTINEL - Shenandoah Heights firefighters Chris Carmona, left, and Joey Piekarsky attempt to reach a brush fire near Shenandoah Heights on August 22, 2020.

SHENANDOAH HEIGHTS – Firefighters from two West Mahanoy Township fire companies battled a brush fire near Raven Run late Saturday night.

Crews were called around 11:00pm for reports of a brush fire near the entrance to the Locust Ridge II Wind Farm at 711 Raven Run Road, about a mile west of Shenandoah Heights in Union Township.

A passerby on an ATV spotted the blaze at a former strip mine on Girard Estate lands across from the wind farm and called it in.

KAYLEE LINDENMUTH / SHENANDOAH SENTINEL – William Penn firefighters arrive at the scene of Saturday night’s brush fire near Shenandoah Heights.

Shenandoah Heights firefighters arrived on scene, stretching a handline and attempting to gain access to the blaze. Rough and steep terrain, coupled with waist-high brush posed a challenge for crews attempting to reach the seat of the fire.

Shortly after, William Penn firefighters arrived, using their brush truck to access the south and west sides of the fireground.

KAYLEE LINDENMUTH / SHENANDOAH SENTINEL – Shenandoah Heights firefighter Chris Carmona advances towards the brush fire as Joey Piekarsky pulls a handline.

Within about a half an hour, the fire was marked under control, though crews remained on scene as of the time of publication, around midnight.

Also responding to the scene were troopers from the State Police at Frackville.

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