Crews from multiple departments put out massive lumber yard fire in Stokes County

The fire broke out at Bill Hanks Lumber yard on Piney Grove Church Road at about 1:15 p.m.

Help was needed from every direction, even across state lines to settle the troubling fire.

"Around Stokes County, as well as Forsyth County, Rockingham County and departments in Virginia responded," said Stokes County Director of Emergency Services Brian Booe.

He's happy to see the smoke that's left from the saw mill fire.

Booe says he knows it could've been worse because of two reasons. The first is the lack of man power.

That's why additional resources from 22 fire departments were called in.

The second is the lumber yard being in a rural part of the county.

Firefighters had to endure a brief shortage of water and were forced to find it from a different source in the area.

"They had to set up different water pumps and rely on tankers to bring water in," Booe said.

He said the lumber yard itself created more problems. Booe said it had too much sawdust and piles of lumber near the fire, which helped the fire spread.

Luckily, help came quickly to overcome a huge challenge for local volunteer fire departments.

"It would've been a major overhaul for the local volunteer fire departments to handle," Booe said.

Officials on scene said no one was hurt during the fire.