New River Gorge Brush Fire Expands to 150 Acres

A brush fire in the New River Gorge National Park and Preserve has grown in size.

The fire, near Beauty Mountain, has increased to 150 acres from 110 acres, according to the National Park Service. As of Thursday, it was 50 percent contained.

Park officials say drier conditions and increasing winds into the weekend could complicate the effort to manage it.

The park is getting help from firefighters from the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. Another state crew from Pennsylvania is on the way.

The 70,000-acre park joined the National Park System last December. As of October, more than 1.4 million people visited the park since the beginning of the year.

Multiple trails and rock climbing areas remain closed due to the fire.