Norfolk, Va., Aug. 24—Believed to have been set afire by moonshiners at work I one of a score of stills throughout its vast area, a section of Dismal Swamp, 15 miles west of Norfolk, today is a mass of roaring flames on a wide front and the property loss will be enormous.
Three hundred men, who have fought the monstrous furnace for 36 hours without rest, ae digging trenches and felling hundreds of trees to check its spread and save millions of dollars worth of timber. Already the loss is estimated at more than a half million dollars, large lumber corporations being the principal losers.
The Norfolk and Western Railroad Company has sent a big force of men to protect its property and aid the forest wardens. The fire has driven many bears, deer and other wild animals from their retreat in the swamp.
Up to today, the blaze had not reached the Dismal Swamp canal and vessels were passing up and down without interruption.
From the front page of The Roxboro Courier, Wednesday evening, Aug. 26, 1925
newspapers.digitalnc.org/lccn/sn92073208/1925-08-26/ed-1/seq-1/
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