Firefighters: Brush fire in Estill County Arson

IRVINE, Ky. ( WTVQ) – Firefighters say the fire in Estill County at the Daniel Boone  National Forest was intentionally set.

Crews were called to a brush fire at around 11 p.m. Sunday that got out of hand. It happened off Redbud Road and Harris Road.  The fire department tells ABC 36 that the fire burned about five acres of land.

They turned It over to the Kentucky Division of Forestry, who tells us Mother Nature wasn’t giving them the advantage in battling the fire.

“Right now we are using blowers, rakes and putting a hand line on it, which means digging,” says Beth Williams with the Kentucky Division of Forestry. “It is down to the dirt to try  to contain the fire. It does take a lot of work in an area like this because we have a lot of dead snags and it’s very thick, forested area.”

The location of the fire, on a cliff, posed some safety issues for firefighters as well.

They were able to get it contained, but were on the scene overnight, keeping an eye on hot spots to make sure there were no flare-ups.

There were no injuries.  We are told no homes were threatened.