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When the first calls came in, Buckingham officials thought the fire was in nearby Nelson County, with smoke just drifting this way. That’s why they told residents there was nothing to be concerned about. At the same time, Nelson County officials were also fielding calls about smoke drifting in their direction, telling their residents something similar. By 12:20 p.m. on Saturday, the problem had been identified. The smoke was coming from a brush fire in the 3000 block of Woodland Church Road, with Nelson firefighters pointing out they could see the blaze across the river in the Wingina area. 

All Buckingham County fire departments responded to the call, along with several of the mutual aid agencies from around the region. They all worked with the Virginia Department of Forestry for eight hours to both stop the Woodland Church Road fire from spreading and protect property in the area. As another way to help, firefighters from Appomattox and Fork Union volunteered to be on standby and handle calls close to them in Buckingham, should any unrelated to the fire arise. As of Sunday afternoon, Buckingham emergency officials said 30 acres had burned before they were able to get the fire under control. The fire also destroyed multiple buildings. 

Smoke remains from Woodland Church Road fire

“The great fire departments of our county were able to get it under control after long hours of hard work,” Buckingham County Sheriff Billy Kidd said in a statement on Saturday. He also had advised residents that they would see smoke for a while, as the remains of the fire smoldered. That proved true, with smoke visible for most of the night and into the early morning hours on Sunday. Firefighters continued to monitor both the fire and surrounding area on Sunday, to make sure it didn’t reignite. It’s still not clear what caused the fire, county officials said.