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Parts of Pilot Mountain State Park will reopen Saturday

The fire at Pilot Mountain, also known as the Grindstone fire, burned 1,050 acres. PAUL GARBER/WFDD

A portion of Pilot Mountain State Park is expected to reopen this weekend after a fire scorched more than a thousand acres at the site.

On Saturday, some parts of the park that weren't impacted by the fire are scheduled to reopen to the public. That includes the Yadkin River sections, Ivy Bluffs and Bean Shoals access, and the Hauser Road parking area.

The fire is finally out, but some smoldering remains, so the mountain will stay closed a little longer. State park officials hope a good rain this weekend will allow them to reopen it and most hiking trails on Monday.

“There are a couple of trails that sustained some damage and those include the Little Pinnacle where we had some railing burn," says Kathy Capps, the deputy director of operations for North Carolina State Parks. "And really just from a visitor safety perspective, it's going to be important for us to wait to reopen those until we have those railings back in place.”

Capps says a lumber supply shortage is causing delays in the rail repair at the Little Pinnacle Overlook site.

She advises park visitors to stay on the trails and pay attention to signage placed in some locations.

The fire at Pilot Mountain was first reported on Saturday, November 27.  State fire officials say the blaze was caused by an escaped campfire in an undesignated area.

Follow WFDD's Keri Brown on Twitter @kerib_news

Keri Brown is a multi-award winning reporter and host at 88.5 WFDD. She has been honored with two regional Edward R. Murrow awards for her stories about coal ash, and was named the 2015 radio reporter of the year by the Radio Television Digital News Association of the Carolinas (RTDNAC).Although she covers a variety of topics, her beats are environmental and education reporting.Keri comes to the Triad from West Virginia Public Broadcasting, where she served as the Chief Bureau Reporter for the Northern Panhandle. She produced stories for the state's Public Television and Radio programs and was honored by the West Virginia Associated Press Broadcasters Association for her feature and enterprise reporting.She also served as an adjunct instructor at Wheeling Jesuit University and Bethany College in West Virginia. She worked with the Center for Educational Technologies in Wheeling, WV, and other NASA centers across the country to develop several stories about the use of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) concepts in the classroom.Keri's journalism career began at WTRF-TV 7 in Wheeling. She worked in several roles at the station, including the head assignment editor. She also was a field producer and assignment manager at WPGH-TV Fox 53 in Pittsburgh.Keri is a graduate of Ohio University. When she's not in the studio or working on a story, she enjoys watching college football with her family, cooking, and traveling.Keri is always looking for another great story idea, so please share them with her. You can follow her on Twitter @kerib_news.

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