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shed. “I saw no evidence of hard, toxic pesticides,” Mr. Morris emphasized, in a telephone interview this week.
Soil, water and foliage samples have been sent to a lab in Richmond for testing. “I expect a report back in a couple of weeks but my experience tells me that we really don’t have anything to worry about here,” the Department of Agriculture inspector said.
Mr. Morris recalled that people at the scene during the fire reported “smelling something”. He noted that Alex Sharp, who took over management of the orchard last year, had sprayed earlier on the day of the fire. (Mr. Sharp is a certified pesticide applicator, licensed by the state.) “People were probably smelling that orchard spray,” Mr. Morris noted.
Arriving at the fire site last Wednesday, Mr. Morris said he’d been “pleasantly surprised. . .Your fire department did an extremely good job by using sand, a safe absorbent (means to put out the fire). There was no run-off problem,” he said, noting that he’d checked a small pond close by for traces and found none.
Col. Dieter Kneupfer, Rappahannock’s emergency services coordinator, also complimented the job fire fighters did in coping with a potential hazard from unknown chemicals. But he pointed out that for the future, their job could be made easier and safer if orchardists, vintners and farmers keep lists of pesticides and other agricultural chemicals stored in large quantities. “They should know what they have and
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