ST. CROIX — Virgin Islands Fire and Emergency Medical Services spent about five hours battling multiple brush fires Sunday on the South Shore of St. Croix, using four fire apparatus to extinguish the blaze that is believed to have spread to different locations as a result of flying embers, according to a VIFEMS official.
“Multiple fires in a brush fire happens due to embers,” Captain Kevin Delande, a VIFEMS shift commander on duty Sunday, said. “When the wind picks up and you have that gust, an ember will shoot up in the air and just land, so then you have spot fires, and sometimes that’s why a fire may jump the road as well.”
As the fire spread along the South Shore, Delande said the main area of concern was by ARTfarm, a vegetable farm and art gallery. He said fire was heading toward the beach by Estate Longford that might have been caused by flying embers. He said another small fire near Estate Longford but closer to Castle Nugent was slowly traveling backward against the wind toward the Howard M. Wall Boy Scout Camp.
ARTfarm posted photos of the fire on its Facebook page Sunday afternoon, requesting for “anyone who is able-bodied and doesn’t have a respiratory issue” to help put out the flames by bringing shovels, buckets, and any firefighting equipment. The post indicated the farm had “a lot of farm structures going up.”
Christina Gasperi, who runs the 40-acre ARTfarm with her husband, Luca Gasperi, said they lost more pasture, fencing, irrigation equipment, and infrastructure than from any other brush fire in the past.
“It’s a massive hit,” she said.
Christina Gasperi said the community responded to her Facebook post requesting assistance, noting that she received help from family, neighbors, farmers, and customers after VIFEMS got the fire under control. She said the volunteers also helped her neighbor, noting that his pastures were burning as well.
“Sometimes it can be really challenging to make your way on St. Croix and run a small business, and I really appreciate how everybody came out to lend a hand and show they really cared about our family and what we’re trying to do for the community,” she said.
ARTfarm plans to raise funds to purchase supplies to rebuild the damaged infrastructure, Christina Gasperi said.
“We’re going to need to rebuild it,” she said. “And so, we’ll put out another call for help as soon as we kind of figure out what our next steps will be.”
In addition to the volunteers, Christina Gasperi acknowledged the effort of VIFEMS.
“They came quickly, and they did what they could do to help us get things under control,” she said. “We didn’t lose any human lives, we didn’t have any injuries, and our homes were safe.”
Units from the fire stations in Estates Cotton Valley and Richmond were dispatched in addition to a tanker from the fire station in Frederiksted, Delande said. He said firefighters from the station in Estate Grove Place also responded to a report of a brush fire in the pasture in Estate Humbug, but VIFEMS declared there was no fire in that area. He said the unit from Estate Grove Place was staged to assist the other units. He said the effort from the firefighters was “phenomenal,” adding that everyone knew their assignments and executed to the fullest.
“We had units in different areas attacking different fronts,” he said.
The firefighters had to overcome the terrain, Delande said, noting some of the VIFEMS units sustained superficial damage. He pointed out the effort from the unit from Estate Grove Place to battle the fire in Estate Longford.
“They had to use chainsaws to cut trees just to be able to make access to reverse back toward the fire to prevent that progress,” he said.
The unit from Frederiksted had to deal with pangola grass, Delande said.
“That type of grass for brush fires is a sneaky, tricky grass because the fire run underneath,” he said, noting the flames could start in one area and travel to another.
One of the units stayed at ARTfarm to make sure the fire did not progress toward residential structures, Delande said. He said the unit from Cotton Valley protected the roadside, noting multiple instances where the Virgin Islands Water and Power Authority’s composite poles and power lines were threatened.
The cause of the fires is unknown.
“I cannot determine what the cause was,” Delande said, noting the fields along the South Shore are dry. “It may be natural combustion. I’m not too sure.”
Delande said he could not speculate that it was arson.
“I have no reason to believe that,” he said.
Deputy inspectors were called out to ARTfarm, Delande said. He encouraged anybody with any information about the cause of the fire to contact 340-773-8050 or 911.
