Forest fire continues to burn in southern Pulaski County

Local News

October 1, 2008

40-50 acres in Keno area has burned since Sunday

By SUSAN WHEELDON, CJ Staff Writer The Commonwealth Journal Wed Oct 01, 2008, 06:55 AM EDT

A forest fire, which began on Sunday, continues to burn in Southern Pulaski County.

Tateville Fire Chief Jim Howard said the Tateville Volunteer Fire Department received the call about the fire off of Keno Road on Sunday afternoon.

Howard said after they received the call the department responded to the scene and tired to get the fire under control, as well as also calling the U.S. Forestry Service since the land is forest land in the Daniel Boone National Forest.

“Whenever they showed up we turned over the scene to them,” said Howard.

Fred Noack, U.S. Forest Service district ranger for the Stearns District, said 50 to 55 acres of forest is burning currently.

“It was an arson start,” said Noack, “and we do not know who did it.”

Noack said the U.S. Forest Service arrived on the scene Sunday evening and then on Monday not only were members of the forest service from the Stearns district on the scene, but also a 20 person hand crew from Oklahoma.

“We secured the fire line and burned out any unburned fuel in the area (on Monday),” said Noack.

Noack explained they generally don’t try to put out such a fire with water, because the area is to large and generally that is only used with smaller fires or structure fires.

“We use natural or man made barriers for a fire line (to stop the fire),” said Noack.

He explained with this fire the barriers include a train track on one side and roads on the other sides, as well as cliffs. Noack also said on Sunday evening to make sure and limit the hazard to firefighters they could only go so far on the scene, because of the cliff lines in the area.

“We want to limit the hazards to firefighters, so it is best to manage your wildfire from a safe secure anchor point,” said Noack.

Noack said as of Tuesday the members of the forest service we’re monitoring the fire.

“We’re monitoring to make sure the fire stays within the fire line,” said Noack.

Noack said the fire should not get any larger, but will smolder within the boundaries, noting that unless a significant amount of rain falls they will continue to monitor the fire for another week at least.

As for the fire being looked at as an arson, Noack said law enforcement with the U.S. Forest Service is investigating the incident.

“We want to encourage anyone to call in anything they know about an arsonist to stop this from happening,” said Noack.

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Pulaski carries Girdler to win

In the weeks leading up to Tuesday’s primary election, it was impossible to miss the colorful signs dotting nearly every Pulaski roadway. The names in the race for the 15th State Senatorial District seat popped out: A.C. Donahue. Chris Girdler. Mark Polston.

Once citizens hit the ballots, however, the results mirrored the dimensions of the signs themselves: Chris Girdler stood the tallest.

Girdler, deputy district director for Congressman Harold “Hal” Rogers, ran away with the votes inside Pulaski County’s borders, earning 3,926 votes for 62.05 percent of the total number cast.

That number more than doubled the next highest vote-getter, businessman Mark Polston, who raked in 1,624 votes for 25.67 percent.

However, Polston — who owns Classic Carpet, a home-flooring business located just off the southern 914 bypass — can claim a moral victory ... three of them, in fact. In all three counties in the district other than Pulaski — those being Adair, Casey, and Russell Counties — Polston actually edged out Girdler.

In Adair, Polston beat Girdler 629 to 394. In Casey County, it was 538 to 417, and in Russell, it was 1,862 to 1,038.

Polston said he just “couldn’t pull it out with the numbers” and that “the machine worked for” Girdler in Pulaski County.

“I think that was their strategy — I think they had a Pulaski County strategy all along,” said Polston. “They played the political game well.”

Polston said the difference between his and Girdler’s campaigns was that “mine was a very, very grass roots campaign,” he said. “I did not have a political machine behind me. I understand how this process works, and in this instance, he prevailed.”

As for why Girdler didn’t take three of four counties, the winning candidate — since there are no Democrats in the race, winning the Republican primary was effectively a final victory for Girdler — said he didn’t have an answer for that.

However, “I believe things happen for a reason and I hope the long and strenuous campaign will only heighten my desire to move beyond the bitterness and partisanship of the recent past,” said Girdler.

“Regionalism is a goal of mine, and I look forward to helping all four counties,” he added, noting that he campaigned heavily in each of them.

Sen. Vernie McGaha, the long-time state senator whose seat the candidates were vying for, actually supported Polston after Liberty’s Todd Hoskins dropped out of the race earlier this month.

Donahue, a local attorney, got 556 votes in Pulaski County, 8.79 percent of the vote. He only received 145 votes in Russell County, 74 in Adair County, and 75 in Casey County, where hometown candidate Hoskins almost matched him with 71 votes despite no longer being officially in the race.

Polston said he’s “still digesting” what happened, and though “the process has been a very good experience for me,” he wouldn’t commit to running again in the future. “I wouldn’t shut the door to anything, but I’m not opening any doors either.”

Still, “I think I got a lot of people involved in the process that had not been involved before and would not have been otherwise,” he said. “A lot of people got out and worked really hard, got motivated to talk to friends and neighbors. I think a lot of people became involved through this campaign that are going to be involved for a long time.”

Girdler stressed his “positive message” and said that Rogers is a “mentor and good friend” that he would turn to for advice in dealing with a frequently combative legislative body in Frankfort, one for which Girdler hopes to help change the culture.

Girdler said that he was “confident and optimistic” during the day Tuesday because he’d “worked extremely hard.” Nevertheless, the realization that he’d won gave him “chill bumps,” he said.

“I’m absolutely honored,” said Girdler. “The position of state senator is more than an honor, more than an office. It’s a charge to keep, and I will give it my all.

“I pledge to be the people’s state senator,” he added. “I look forward to working with everyone to move this region forward.”

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