Jason Sandford
Jason Sandford is a reporter, writer, blogger and photographer interested in all things Asheville.
For WLOSers, the news was all about fires. Let’s have a look:
Flames in Swannanoa
WLOSers led their 6 with a story about brush fires in Buncombe, Madison and Swain counties.
A fire in Swannanoa at the Cliffs new development, called High Carolina, got brief mention and deserves more attention. WLOSers said the flames there destroyed construction equipment. No cause was cited, and WLOSers moved on.
But we all know that the Cliffs in Swannanoa has been controversial development. Could the fire be arson?
Out in Swain County, a small fire started after somebody burned some debris and the fire got out of control. But on Sunday, a massive fire there destroyed nine homes, and WLOSer Terrie Foster continued her reporting there. On Tuesday, she talked to homeowners who didn’t lose anything. They said they were thankful for the firefighters. They said they were glad they survived. They said all nine homeowners who lost something were second-home owners.
Foster said fire officials said they think the fire started in Smith Hollow of Hurricane Mountain, but they’ve got no cause in sight.
So how about some rain, Mikey?
WLOS weather-guess Mike “Cuervo” Cuevas said today’s high was 75 and it might rain later this week. We’re off 2.4 inches of rain for the year.
Mobile home fire
There was a mobile home fire in west Buncombe County on Brickyard Road, WLOSers said. Neighbors told WLOSers they heard small explosions, which firefighters said were shotgun shells and other ammo exploding. One person was home, but got out OK. No word on a cause.
Yet another fire – this one, intentional
New city of Ashvegas firefighters got some experience Tuesday – they set an abandoned house on fire in West Asheville and practiced putting it out, WLOSers said.
Terror prevention training
WLOSer Sheraldo said SWAT teams and other officials in Henderson County got some practice fighting fake terrorists. The officers said the training, sponsored by the federal government, was great.
In other news…
Asheville police arrested a suspect in two recent shootings at Hillcrest. The shootings started as a fight over a scooter crash, WLOSers said… State highway patrol troopers say they may never know what caused a fatal truck crash that shut down traffic on I-26 for seven hours on Monday. The driver died after running off the road near the Long Shoals Road exit. Meantime, a crew scraped up work tainted by the 4,000 gallons of spilled fuel that the tanker was carrying… Work to replace an old steel truss bridge will shut down Morgan Hill Road near Black Mountain starting Thurday… Something called “colony collapse disorder” is killing bees in the mountains, WLOSers said. It’s caused by mites or a fungal infection. Local bee keepers say there may not be enough bees to pollinate the local apple crop and they need to find some answers. The critical time for the apple crop is the second week in April… Blue Ridge Paper says it won’t request a water color variance for its discharge into the Pigeon River. That’s because it says it’s cleaned up its act. The company has needed that variance for years. Just last month, the state lifted a fishing ban on the Pigeon River, saying that the paper plant had cleaned up so much. Enviros say not nearly enough has been done… And the City of Ashvegas wants a $40 million water bond to do major repairs to fix the city’s shabby water pipes… Also, we watched some of the city council meeting and noted that city council agreed to move forward in investigating whether or not a race track could be built near the Ashvegas Regional Airport.
