Friday afternoon brush fires threaten homes, burn 50 acres in Deatsville area

NC GAZETTE / WBRT RADIO
STAFF REPORT

Friday, Sept. 27, 2019 — The Bardstown Fire Department spent several hours working to extinguish a series of brush fires reported along the R.J. Corman railroad tracks in the Samuels and Deatsville areas on Friday afternoon.

Police shut down traffic on Deatsville Road and Samuels Loop in the area while firefighters worked to contain the brush fires.

Brush fires were reported in the 500 block of Cedar Grove Road near the county line, in the area of the old Deatsville railroad depot and the T.W. Samuels distillery, where Heaven Hill Distilleries and Makers Mark both store some of its bourbon in the former distillery’s rickhouses.

Fires were also reported along the tracks near the Corman’s Crossing subdivision where homes on Jellico Drive were threatened.

At about 2 p.m., the Nelson County Fire Department requested mutual aid from the Northeast Nelson Fire Department, which sent brush trucks and manpower to the scene to help.

Smoke from the brush fires was visible for miles.

Witnesses said they observed sparks coming from the Corman-operated Old Kentucky Dinner Train during its lunchtime excursion as it traveled through the area.

According to Louisville media, Corman canceled the dinner trains 6 p.m. Friday evening run as well as its lunch and dinner excursions for Saturday, Sept. 28, 2019.

Firefighters had the brush fires extinguished by about 4:30 p.m.

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