Virginia forestry officials said a wildfire at Bull Mountain near the North Carolina border has now engulfed 4,000 acres.
Virginia Department of Forestry spokesman Gregg O'Donnell said much of the fire is not contained.
Forestry officials said the fire has forced the evacuation of several dozen homes and has also destroyed five buildings.
The fire has been raging since lightning struck the wooded mountain, located northeast of Stuart, on Friday.
Gov. Tim Kaine authorized the deployment of 40 Virginia National Guard personnel Sunday night to help fight the fire. O'Donnell said there are now 250 people fighting the blaze.
Fire crews have worked double shifts on Bull Mountain near Foley Road and Foley Ridge Road. Helicopters were dipping into local ponds and running 120-gallon buckets of water to the hot spots.
Patrick County High School was being used to house some evacuated citizens and firefighters. It was announced the school will be closed Tuesday.
Evacuees were in need of items including paper towels, plastic plates and toiletries.
Smoke has been seen throughout Martinsville for four days.
Patrick County isn't the only area impacted by the fires. Surry County officials said Monday they were getting 911 calls from people seeing or smelling smoke.
Officials said that may remain the case for the next couple of days due to drift smoke from Bull Mountain.
"Overall progress has been slow," said Chris Thomsen of the Virginia Department of Forestry. "We've tried four different times to put lines in. The first three of those times the lines were jumped."
A number of Bull Mountain residents have been told to evacuate. Those people can go to the Smith River Rescue Squad for shelter information and other assistance from the American Red Cross.
Stay with WXII 12 News and WXII12.com for more on this story.
Copyright 2006 by WXII12.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
News stories provided by third parties are not edited by "Site Publication" staff. For suggestions and comments, please click the Contact link at the bottom of this page.
