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Winchester Evening Star81STYEAR...NO.238 2 SECTIONS WINCHESTER, VIRGINIA 22601, SATURDAY, APRIL 15, 1978 _24PAGES 10CENTSFire Ravages 28 Frederick HomesThis building toys in ruins after a forest fire raged at Mountain Falls Park were destroyed and eight mobile homes were ruined. The forest fire wasfor six hours yesterday afternoon Before nearly 400 firefighters were the worst in the memory of any of the firemen fighting the fire yesterdayable to contain the flames more than 300 acres were charred 20 homes Today, the woods continue to smoulder=Around the State — =Demos Pick Delegates300 Wooded Acres BurnedRICHMOND \? - Some 25.000 Virginians were expected to pack meeting rooms across the state today to pick local delegates to the Democratic state covention in Williamsburg June 9-10At stake at that convention will be the Democratic nomination to the U. S. senate, a prize being sought by eight Democrats.The results of the mass meetings in every county and city except Richmond should provide the best indication yet of who among the eight candidates has the leadMost of the 2,795 delegates to thenominating convention were to be chosen today.But in Richmond, there will be precinct mass meetings to select 155 delegates who will then attend a city delegate convention April 29.Four Republicans are seeking their party nomination GOP mass meetings have been under way for several weeks as local GOP groups select their delegates to the Republican state convention in Richmond June 3None of the eight Democrats believes he or she will capture enough delegates today to assure a first ballot victoryAnd since the committed delegates selected at the mass meetings are bound to their candidate for only one ballot, the convention outcome likely will remain very much in doubt The acknowledged leaders in the race are former Attorney General Andrew Miller of Richmond and State Sen. Clive DuVal of Fairfax Some political observers rate Miller the frontrunner while others contend it’s a tossup between him and DuVal.Miller said Friday during a news conference in Charlottesville, “I am confident I will come out of the mass meetings with approximately one-third of the committed delegates, a firm base from which to secure the nomination Rufus Phillips of Fairfax says he's in third place but so do Carrington Williams of Fairfax and State Sen. Hunter Andrews of Hampton.Reports persisted this week that surprising delegate strength would be garnered by Norfolk City Councilman Conoly PhillipsTodayAs a born-again Christian, he has made strong showings in pre-filings of delegate candidates in many areas of the state.There were reports from the Hampton Roads area Friday that evangelical religious groups planned to assemble at their churches early today for brief services and then board church buses to attend the mass meetingsExpected to obtain the fewest number of committed delegates arc Frederick Babson of Virginia Beach, a former chairman of the Fairfax Board of Supervisors, and Flora Crater of Falls Church, an ardent feminist and pro-ERA candidate.Political analysts say any candidate who gets 1,000 or more committed delegates today would be favored, while any with fewer than 400 delegates would have a rough time securing the nomination.Most observers expect 1 000 or more of the 2,795 delegates to go to the convention uncommittedBy SUE STEWARDStar Staff WritprThe orange carpet of flames that eventually stretched over more than 300 acres of Mountain Falls Park west of Winchester yesterday burned with fervor as gusts of high winds fed the fire.Before the raging fire was contained, six hours after it was reported shortly after noon it destroyed 20 homes and eight mobile homes in its path.The origin of the fire was uncertain yet this morning Members of the Frederick County Sheriff’s Department and wardens from the Virginia Department of Forestry were checking out a few leads.North Mountain firemen were first called to the park for a report of a shed fire at a residence near the bottom of the mountain on which about 250 cottages, trailers and resort-type homes are built.Thefiremen worked with rakes shovels, and any other equipment they could find in an attempt to contain the flames But large gusts of wind quickly thwarted their efforts.As the fire spread up the Great North Mountain, back up units were called in to help the original firefightersBefore the fire was under control at 6 p.m., nearly 400 volunteers from all of the Frederick County companies, four Winchester companies and from as far away as Woodstock and Capon Bridge, W. Va . were on the scene battling the fire.Additconoi Phc*04 on Pago 19AS THE FLAMES spread across roads from block to block in the sparsely developed 1,500-acre mountain area, the lines of firemen would drop back a block and begin to prevent the spread of the fire further up the mountain as each block went up in flames.The ground was dry, the sun was hot and the wind gusted strongly as the fire continued to spreadWe felt kind of helpless standing there watching homes burning up when we couldn't do anything about it because there wasn’t enough equipment, Gerald Crowell, county forester, saidBut manpower was no problemThere were so many men there that it was disorganized at first, but then we got things organized and set up a fire headquarters, he saidFire equipment was parked where it could be used most effectively to reach into the densely covered areas. Tankers spent the afternoon running up and down the mountain to supply the pumpers with waterFIREMEN, discussing the fire after they had contained it, said that it was the most challenging fire they had ever fought. They had to fightbrush fires, a great number of structure fires and had to battle with liquified petroleum gas (LP gas) explosions.It was just after 4 p.m. when the fire appeared to be reaching a road at the top of a ridge The road and rocky terrain around it appeared to be a natural stopping point for the flames.But two frame homes stood on the other side of the road If the flames gustedacross the road, as they had throughout the park, the homes would have been lost An area was cleared near the road the fire approached, and a back-fire was started by foresters to burn up to the out-of-control flames The plan—when the flames met, all of the area would already be charred. The fires would put each other outWith the winds as high as thev were, it was a gamble, foresters said But it workedShortly after 6pm the wind died down and the raging fire was under control. The road and back-fire had worked to save the two frame homes at the top of the ridge Spot fires continued to burn within the charred area, but no new fires or boundaries were reported.Volunteers remained on the scene all night, and will probably remain there until sometime tomorrow, Clem LeMaster. North Mountain fire chief, said this morn-Utf?• Continued on Page 2Joe Barnett Wins Star's Spelling BeeBy LULU WILLIAMSStar Staff WriterJae Barnett accelerated her way to the National Spelling Bee last night by winning the regional spelling championship sponsored by the Winchester Evening Star Rooby Jacobs of Ciarxe County fielded such words as tonsillitis and babushka to win second place in the spelling bee at Lord Fairfax Community College Candyss Collier of Winchester was running a close race until she tripped over a pachyderm She left the h out of the synonym for elephant, and retired for third place.Two Warren County students. David Ratcliffe and Richard Updike took fourth and fifth prizes, respectively. David missed asinine (he used an o and Richard missed ■felicityTHE 20 finalists from Winchester. Frederick, Clarke and Warren went down in rapid order by missing such words as quietus, taciturn, environs,’’ charlatan,’ and Sphinx ”The winners correctly spelled platitudes illicit, “equational, dipsomania,and prolific Robby Jacobs rather hesitantly spelled galore leaving a long pause before the e The audience laughed, as it did when he spelled “lattice, and started to sit down, thinking he had spelled it incorrectlyContinued on Page 8Steve Ford Says Mother Will Meet ChallengePOMONA. Calif. AP) — the good have a social drink every night,” he said in Lord seems to keep challenging her with a telephone interview Friday
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Winchester Evening Star
Winchester, Virginia, US
Sat, Apr 15, 1978
Page 1
Full Page
Clipped by
Handley R.
VA, USA 08 May 2024
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