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From YouTube: Winterpock Coal Fire
Description
Winterpock Coal Fire
A
A
Has
been
a
fire
that
said
that
spanned
parts
of
two
fiscal
years
and
I
know
that
we
have
Captain
Joe
Harvey
here
with
us
from
the
Fire
Marshal's
office
and
I
can't
say
enough
good
things
about
Joe
and
his
team.
Who've
really
worked
very
hard
on
this
particular
incident,
working
with
our
state
agencies
that
are
responsible
for
the
mediation
efforts
for
this
event,
as
well
as
to
keep
the
community
as
informed
as
they
can,
based
on
what
we
know
from
from
the
state
agencies.
A
As
most
residents
in
Chesterfield
know,
there's
a
long
history
here
with
the
county
and
coal
and
some
of
the
first
commercially
mined.
Coal
happened
here
in
in
Chesterfield
back
as
far
as
the
1700s,
and
this
is
the
Richmond
coal
belt
that
runs
from
the
winterpock
area,
all
the
way
up
to
I
believe
Glen
Allen
and
in
the
Winter
Park
area
in
particular.
A
In
many
cases,
and
if
you
didn't
know
they
were
there,
you
would
just
think
it
would.
It
was
a
hill
that
was
there
that
you
were
crossing
this.
Is
you
unique
I've
not
been
able
and
talking
a
lot
of
folks
that
have
been
around
for
a
long
time
find
any
type
of
situation
like
this
has
occurred
in
the
in
the
past.
We
still
don't
quite
have
a
a
good
idea
of
what
started
this
there's
a
couple
of
options
or
possibilities.
It
could
be
spontaneous
heating
from
deep
inside
the
pile.
A
You
know
we've
further
discussions
with
our
state
Partners.
This.
This
thing
could
have
been
burning
for
for
a
period
of
years.
We
just
don't
know
this.
You
know
give
you
a
little
bit
of
information
and
background
on
the
timeline.
The
first
9-1-1
calls
we
started
receiving
involved
odors
a
strong
odor
in
the
area,
particularly
at
colber
and
black
Road
area,
and
so
that
that
started
occurring
on
March
6th,
the
winter
pot.
A
We
started
you
know
the
Winter
Park
Fire
Station
responded
down
on
a
couple
of
calls
there
and
couldn't
find
anything,
and
ultimately
the
Fire
Marshal's
Office
got
involved
and
I'll.
Let
Joe
talk
a
little
bit
more
about
their
efforts
here
in
a
minute,
but
the
the
Gob
fire
was
reported
to
Virginia
energy
by
a
nearby
resident
on
March
8th.
This
is
before
we
actually,
you
know,
were
able
to
find
out
what
was
exactly
going
on
and
a
god
fire
means
garbage
of
bituminous
coal.
Is
that
correct?
That's
the
geological
terms.
A
A
But
by
that
time,
representatives
from
the
abandoned
mine
land
project
that
works
for
Virginia
energy,
they
were,
they
were
coming
on
site
and
we
were
able
to
get
a
handle
on
what
was
going
on.
So
they
brought
in
contractors
and
in
March
and
tried
to
exact
some
immediate
remediation
efforts.
They
completed
their
first
attempts
on
March,
25th
Joe
and
his
team
went
back.
They
kept
monitoring
the
site
for
a
period
of
time.
They
found
the
pile
smoldering
again
on
April,
26th
and
AML
completed
their
second
remediation
efforts
on
May
24th.
A
Once
again,
Joe
found
it
smoldering
again
on
June
16th
and
as
it
stands
right
now,
we
have
a
contractor
who's
going
to
be
on
site.
For
a
period
of
weeks,
seven
days
a
week,
they're
available
to
us
what
they're
doing
is
working
to
make
sure
that
the
fire
doesn't
spread
they're,
trying
to
cool
the
pile
they're
trying
to
do
what
they
can
to
create
a
fire
break
around
there
and
prevent
it
from
spreading
and
then
AML
is
working
on
and
developing
a
much
broader
plan
and
getting
approval
from
DEQ
to
be
able
to.
A
B
Good
afternoon
I
spoke
with
a
representative
from
Virginia
energy
this
afternoon.
They
are
there
on
site
currently
and
they
have
removed
all
of
the
Timber
from
the
pile
itself.
So
they
feel,
like
part
of
the
problem,
has
been.
Is
that
the
root
systems
for
the
trees
have
been
supplying
this
smoldering
coal
with
fuel
along
with
the
coal
and
is
caused
it
to
continue
to
burn.
B
B
A
It's
interesting
if
you
go
into
the
the
geospace
from
the
County's
GIS
system
and
you
look
at
the
the
parcel
layers.
There's
one
there
for
topographical
parcels
and
you
can
actually
see
the
and
you
can
see
other
places
along
this
area
in
winterpock,
where
there
are
other
coal
spoiled
piles
like
this
pretty
interesting.
A
But
but
again
one
I
know.
One
of
the
frustrating
things
for
the
residents
is
that
the
fire
department
has
no
authority
over
over
the
situation
and
we
have
responded
regularly
to
9-1-1
calls
complaints
voter
smoke
in
the
area.
We
do
monitor
it
very
closely
to
make
sure
that
the
fire
is
not
spreading
and
again
Joe
and
his
folks
are
really
on
top
of
that
and
they've
done
a
very
good
job.
There.
B
B
C
B
So
we
there
are
no,
there
is
no
public
water
out
there.
If
we
utilize
water,
we
have
to
either
draft
out
of
a
site
or
we
bring
water
in
a
in
a
tanker
truck
and
then
deliver
it
and
then
draft
out
of
a
portable
Pond.
Virginia
energy
is
and
does
have
a
permit
through
DEQ
to
pump
water
out
of
winterpock
Creek
for
the
small
amount
of
water
that
they're
using
on
a
daily
basis,
they're
just
using
a
gasoline
pump
and
actually
pumping
water
out
of
Winter
Park
Creek.
A
And
I
think
there's
there's
only
been
a
couple
of
days
where
we've
actually
had
an
extensive
water
shuttle
operation
with
our
tankers
going
on
to
give
them
some
added
water,
and
that
was
probably
during
the
second
efforts
to
remediate
the
the
pile
as
it
stands.
Right
now
we're
just
responding
on.
You
know
any
type
of
911
call
for
smoke
in
the
area
again
either
the
fire
company
or
one
of
Joe's
folks
goes
out
and
checks
it
on
a
periodic
basis
to
make
sure
that
we
don't
have
any
concerns
of
fire
spread.
C
And
then
also
connected
with
that,
how
is
this
area
different
than
the
mines
in
other
areas
of
the
county?
I
mean
I'm?
Thinking,
of
course,
the
Midlothian
a
lot
more
houses
around
there
and
those
kind
of
things
so
I'm
curious
to
know
if
there
are
any
proactive
approaches
we
need
to
take
to
avoid
such
issues
when
we
have
that.
A
We've
talked
to
Virginia
energy
about
some.
You
know
further
discussion
that
needs
to
take
place.
You
know,
based
on
this,
is
there
anything
we
need
to
think
about
as
a
county
to
let
other
land
owners
know
to
be
careful
and-
and
maybe
there's
some
other
efforts
that
we
can
put
in
place
to
prevent
something
like
this
from
happening.
A
E
C
A
We
don't
know
for
sure,
and
our
our
contacts
at
the
state
really
haven't
given
us
a
specific
cause.
There's
some
we've
discussed
some
possibilities.
It
could
be
again,
it
could
be
internal.
You
know
a
spontaneous
heating
from
inside
the
pile
in
a
naturally
occurring
phenomenon,
or
it
could
be
an
external
source
that
happened.
We
just
don't
know
I,
don't
think
we'll
ever
know
that
for
sure,
unfortunately,
Mr.
E
B
In
the
in
the
beginning
of
the
process
process,
we
brought
everybody
to
the
table,
EPA
DEQ
that
we
felt
needed
to
be
involved
in
the
process.
We
were
at
the
time
using
the
monitors
that
we,
as
a
fire
department,
have
and
we're
monitoring
the
air.
The
only
time
we
would
get
any
kind
of
alert
on
our
monitors
is
were
when
we
were
right
there,
either
near
the
smoke
next
to
the
Smoke.
B
We
did
have
some
citizens
that
were
concerned
about
that
and
we
would
go
to
their
houses,
monitor
their
houses
and
would
get
complete
zeros
on
all
of
our
monitors
and
then
for
the
next
couple
of
weeks
we
picked
out
four
or
five
areas
around
the
Winter
Park
area
within
Black,
Road,
River,
Road,
coldboro
road-
that
we
would
monitor
every
day
three
times
a
day,
just
to
make
sure
that
there
was
nothing.
You
know
in
the
air
that
would
affect
these
folks
and
again
through
that
two
weeks
we
got
zeros
on
the
monitor.
A
We
and
I'll
add
to
also
that
in
the
early
stages
there
was
consultation
with
DEQ
and
EPA
and
and
based
on
the
readings
that
Joe
and
his
folks
were
picking
up.
They
did
not
feel
a
need
to
come
out.
They
were
not
overly
concerned
that
this
was
a
risk
to
the
the
broader
Community.
The
sulfur
smell
is
is
a
a
nuisance.
A
We
have
to
remember
also
that
you
know
for
for
centuries,
we
used
coal
for
for
heating,
you
know,
and
and
for
industrial
purposes,
and
so
there
were
probably
a
lot
of
cities
back
in
the
1800s
that
smelled
just
like
this
coal
pile,
but
it
is
an
irritant.
It's
a
nuisance
for
some,
and
so
that
does
cause
a
generation
of
some
911
calls,
but
we
don't
have
any
actionable
data
to
suggest
that
this
is
a
risk
to
the
community
and
therefore,
we've
not
taken
any
more
aggressive
steps
in
that
regard.
A
D
I
know
that
there
is
a
mine
shaft
in
that
area
and,
if
I'm
talking
with
you
and
staff,
there's
nothing
to
indicate
at
least
a
deq's
perspective
or
our
perspective
that
that
mine
shaft
is
on
fire.
Because
of
this
incident.
That's
question
number
one
and
number
two
in
our
discussions
with
DEQ,
since
we
have
been
putting
a
lot
of
water
on
on
the
fire
in
that
area
and
that
water
is
actually
draining
in
the
winter
pot
Creek
and
at
Winter.
D
B
So
I
know
that
DEQ
is
involved
through
this
permitting
process.
That's
going
on
now,
I
think
that
there
will
be
some
of
that.
Obviously
there
have
been
silk
fences
put
in
place
and
then
on
a
conference
call
that
I
was
on
the
other
day.
They
talked
about
that
a
lot
of
this
stuff
that
would
come
off.
This
pile
has
been
going
into
the
groundwater
for
Years
anyway,
but
I
do
believe
that
DEQ
will
do
some
of
that
in
the
future.
B
A
Getting
back
to
your
first
question:
Mr
Carroll,
we've
not
gotten
any
information,
and
you
know
correct
me
if
I'm
wrong
of
any
new
details
that
you've
had
today
We've,
not
gotten
any
information
from
our
state
agencies
that
we've
been
dealing
with,
that
there's
any
concern
that
it
has
entered
the
mine
again
as
they
start
digging
down
and
they
look
into
the
actual
source
of
this.
You
know
we
may
know
more,
but
right
now,
we've
not
heard
that
as
a
a
concern
relayed
to
us
so
far,.
D
B
The
one
oh
there
are
two
I
guess
what
I
would
call
shafts
one
up
on
top
of
the
pile
and
one
over
on
the
side.
Today,
I
was
told
that
they're
not
100
sure
that
the
one
on
the
top
of
the
pile
is
a
shaft,
because
they
said
it
has
a
sliding
board
slope
which
would
not
be
indicative
of
a
mine
shaft.
It
may
just
be
some
sort
of
air
vent,
but
the
other
one
I
was
told
it
is
full
of
water
so
and
the
one
on
top.
B
A
You
and
Miss
Carol.
Thank
you
for
all
your
support
and
interest
in
this
this
situation
and
we
appreciate
having
you
come
out
and
and
see
it
firsthand.
It's
going
to
be
helpful
for
you,
I
know
explaining
to
your
constituents
as
we
continue
to
work
through
this,
and
it
looks
like
it's
going
to
be
a
situation
that
we're
going
to
have
to
deal
with
for
at
least
the
next
four
to
six
months
likely
so
we'll
keep
you
posted
on.
D
That
well
and
I
appreciate
everything
you
all
have
done,
especially
to
put
on
social
media
into
in
the
neighborhood
Facebook
pages.
The
information
updating
the
community,
what's
going
on
with
with
this
and
and
I
would
say
that
in
the
future,
if
you
could,
if
you
have
some
additional
information,
if
you
forward
it
to
our
media
people
as
well,
and
we
can
actually
help
facilitate
that
and
push
it
out
to
the
community
even
in
a
larger
scale.
Just
so
they
know
what's
going
on.
Thank.