By CRAIG FREILICH

MACOMB – The wildfire off of South Woods Road that broke out nearly a week ago is “not officially declared out, but it is under control,” according to Morristown Fire Chief Kevin Crosby.

He said this morning that at last look “there was no smoke. Everything was looking good.” But the nature of the fire merits extra attention.

The breakout prompted St. Lawrence County to declare a fire emergency, banning outside burning from Tuesday to Sunday at least.

“We’ll be checking it again this morning, and tonight, and tomorrow, and probably again later on Friday,” Crosby said Thursday.

“We cut a fire line Tuesday,” Crosby said, when 124 firefighters from 30 North Country fire departments signed in to fight the fire.

“The terrain was very rough – cliffs, dropoffs, jagged rocks. That was a lot of the problem. The fire was getting into the rocks, into years and years of dry mulch. We would spray water on one spot and it would pop up five feet away.”

Key to controlling the fire was the eight-tenths of a mile long trench three to five feet wide all around the fire, Crosby said.

“We cut down trees, cleared right down to the rocks. It was very labor intensive. They did an awesome job, in 90-degree heat.”

Luckily they did not have to carry in all the water they used. Fireighters stretched 3,100 feet of hose to reach the fire.

Crosby confirmed that the fire began in an oak tree that was struck by lightning July 9.

Rich and Deborah Tully, who live across South Woods Road from the fire site, said they saw the tree get hit on July 9. They went out and got photos of the smashed, smoking tree.

The fire smoldered for weeks and broke out last week in rocky terrain about three-quarters of a mile off the road, making fighting it extremely difficult, Crosby said.

The Tullys said they went to the site after the fire broke out and saw clearly that the blaze spread from the tree.

“Yes, that’s what it looked like, in the primary area of the fire,” Crosby said.

The main fire broke out last Thursday, and firefighters have been battling it ever since.

“I think we went out six times,” Crosby said of the volunteers at the scene.

The list of fire companies at the scene is impressive: Morristown, Richville, Parishville, Brasher-Winthrop, Gouverneur, West Stockholm, North Lawrence, Nicholville, Canton, Brier Hill, Pyrites, Potsdam, Heuvelton, Hopkinton-Ft. Jackson, Waddington, Star Lake, Rensselaer Falls, Colton, Lisbon, Hammond, and Gouverneur, just from St. Lawrence County. Jefferson county sent the Carthage, West Carthage, Natural Bridge, Antwerp, Oxbow, Redwood and Philadelphia departments. From Lewis County, Harrisville firefighters pitched in.

Crosby also noted the assistance from St. Lawrence County Emergency Services, New York Fire Office, and New York Forest Rangers.

“A big ‘thank you’ to all the firefighters, and there was a great outpouring of support from the community,” Crosby said, including ice, water, Gatorade, snacks and pizza and other support from Gouverneur, Potsdam and Ogdensburg businesses, the Morristown and Brier Hill fire auxiliaries, and the Salvation Army.