Arson suspected in Beck’s Creek blaze

Arson is suspected as the cause of a Monday afternoon forest fire/brush fire that scorched 36 acres in the Beck’s Creek area just west of Williamsburg.

Jennifer Turner, a public information officer with the Kentucky Division of Forestry, said that there is no way of knowing how the fire was set at this point and there are no suspects but the investigation is ongoing.

She estimates that over 80 percent of the blazes that forestry fights are arson in nature. The fire was reported noon about half a mile west of Main Street behind a structure.

“Fire crews arrived on scene and quickly determined the fire was fairly large and was spreading fast,” Goldbug Volunteer Fire Department Chief Brandon Woods said in a release.

About a dozen Goldbug and Emlyn volunteer firefighters responded to the scene along with about 10 forestry officials and battled the blaze until about 7:30 p.m. Monday.

Firefighters provided protection to nearby structures for several hours and extinguished several areas of brush land fire while forestry crews worked to cut a containment line around the blaze. No structures were damaged in the heavily populated residential area.

Whitley County EMS also assisted at the scene.