Akron Beacon Journal (OH) - March 31, 1986

A volunteer fireman who succumbed while fighting a brush fire near Chillicothe has become the first person to die as a result of fires that have burned in the southern and eastern parts of Ohio for nearly a week.

Ray E. Scott, 57, died of an apparent heart attack while fighting a brush fire started by a woman who was burning a pile of old newspapers in the town of Londonderry on SunDAY, morning. He was operating a backhoe in an effort to free a fire truck that had become stuck in mud.

Lawrence Ehlers, assistant chief of the Ohio Department of Natural Resources Division of Forestry, described the effect of Scott's death. "I got so upset this morning, I was shaking," he said. "I was actually crying because a human being died because another human being started a fire."

Roma Doles was cited by ODNR officials for allowing a fire to escape. She faces a fine of up to $100.

Ehlers said 58 brush fires in Summit, Portage, Stark, Medina, Wayne and Cuyahoga counties to the north and in Gallia, Lawrence, Jackson, Perry, Hocking, Athens, Washington and Clermont counties to the south caused no injuries and no structural damage.

Brush fires charred some 360 acres in the south and 65 acres in Northeast Ohio on Saturday.

ODNR director Joseph J. Sommer said he was considering a ban on outdoor burning for southern and central areas of the state during the spring period when the threat of forest fires is greatest.

Sommers said he planned to talk to forestry division chief David Bergman toDAY, about the possible need for a ban on outdoor burning until rain falls or foliage turns green. The National Weather Service forecasts no rain until later this week.

Don Kinerson, fire staff officer for Wayne National Forest, said there have been 40 fires on national forest lands since Jan. 1, most within the past two weeks. Spring fires usually damage young trees and scar older trees, he said. Once leaves begin to appear on forest vegetation and the humidity levels rise, the chance of forest fires dwindles, he said.

Jim Milliron, forest manager at Shade River State Forest in Tuppers Plains in northeastern Meigs County, said 80 percent of forest fires in Ohio are caused by people who carelessly burn trash.

So far, damage in this spring's round of fires has been limited to barns, Milliron said.

Dead foliage dried by warm temperatures and gusting winds last week caused fires that blackened some 4,000 acres of public and private forests and grasslands between TuesDAY, and Friday, ODNR officials said.

Officials are taking no chances in fire-prone areas. On Saturday, the Norfolk and Southern Railroad was asked to keep trains from traveling tracks in some affected areas in the south until fires were brought under control.

The state also is using spotter planes and helicopters that can drop water into burning areas of hilly terrain and heavy brush, Milliron said.