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To the citizens of Rappahannock County:
Thank you from the National Park Service
and the staff at Shenandoah National Park for your support during the Shenandoah Complex Fires that occurred from Oct. 29 through Nov. 13.
Special thanks to Dieter Knuepfer and Jim Marangoni of Rappahannock County Emergency Services, Rappahannock Sheriff , Larry Sherertz, and Rappahannock County Administrator John McCarthy, and Sperryville Fire Chief Richie Burke for their dedication and leadership in the tremendous cooperative effort it took to contain the fires as much as possible within Shenandoah National Park.
I regret that many residents were subjected to substantial amounts of smoke. Some of that smoke was the result of firefighters having to use fire to fight fire. However, by burning away fuels, it was much harder for the fire to escape lines built to hold it and therefore many residents living next to the park boundary were better protected.
It has been said that this fire was an "illadvised prescribed bum" or a wildfire that was purposefully allowed to bum. Neither is true. Federal wild land fire management policies state that: "Fires are classified as either wildfire or prescribed fire. All wildfires (like the Shenandoah Complex Fires) will be suppressed. Wildfire may not be used to accomplish land-use and resource-management objectives. Only prescribed fire may be used for this purpose.
Prescribed fire may be utilized to accomplish land-use or resource-management objectives only when defined in prescribed fire plans." It is true, however, that almost all people and equipment available each day had to
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