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Bays Branch, Kentucky

17 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1886 and the latest in 1992. It stands in the Prestonsburg census division. It lies in ZIP code area 41216. It stands on Fryleys Branch. The Survey maps it on the Prestonsburg quadrangle.

Bays Branch within Floyd County

Topographic sheets covering this place

12 surveys from 17 printed sheets

Matched by testing this settlement's coordinate against the published boundary of every sheet in the United States Geological Survey's historical collection. Each opens the scanned sheet at the Survey.

Fires near this place

196 since 1997

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 196 fires within 5 miles of Bays Branch between 1997 and 2020, burning about 7,074 acres in total. None started naturally. 45 were recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Reported cause Fires
Debris and open burning64
Arson/incendiarism45
Recreation and ceremony44
Missing data/not specified/undetermined37
Railroad operations and maintenance4
Smoking1
Misuse of fire by a minor1

The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.

DateCause SizeReported by Name on the report
9 September 2019Debris and open burning5.0 acresKentucky Division of ForestryCOLEMAN BRANCH
9 September 2019Debris and open burning5.0 acresKentucky Division of ForestryROUTE 302
9 September 2010Debris and open burning1.0 acresKentucky Division of ForestryABBOTT MTN
7 September 2007Debris and open burning1.0 acresKentucky Division of Forestrynot named
5 September 2007Debris and open burning170 acresKentucky Division of ForestryMIDDLE FORK
4 September 2007Debris and open burning50 acresKentucky Division of Forestrynot named
28 September 1998Arson/incendiarism4.0 acresKentucky Division of Forestrynot named
24 September 2007Debris and open burning40 acresKentucky Division of Forestrynot named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Floyd County

Mines and quarries near this place

2 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 2 workings within 5 miles of Bays Branch: 1 past producer, 1 prospect. None of them still produces. What was taken out: Silica, Clay. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Where SiteCommodity StatusRecorded
East Point RoadcutClayProspect
Levisa Fork Sandstone PitSilicaPast Producer

Every working recorded in Floyd County

Storms near this place

3 since 2015

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Bays Branch in 3 storm reports between 2015 and 2019: 2 thunderstorm wind, 1 flash flood. No death or injury is recorded in these reports. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
July 2015Flash FloodBays Branch$5,000Flash flooding occurred along Abbott Creek and on Alley Fork.
June 2019Thunderstorm WindBays Branch$500The county Emergency Manager reported trees downed from northwest to southeast of Prestonsburg. Exact locations include Little Paint Creek Road northwest of town as well as along U.S. Highway 23 southeast of town. A downed tree along Kentucky Highway 321 northwest of Prestonsburg resulted in gas lines being pulled out of the ground.
July 2015Thunderstorm WindBays Branch-Trees and power lines were blown down and across Hwy 321 near the Highland Hospital.

Every storm recorded in Floyd County

Nearest settlements

The eight closest, with where each one stands in the county. Distances are straight-line, computed from the Geographic Names Information System coordinates.

Map PlaceDistance Sheets
Auxier1.1 miles17
Cliff2.9 miles17
West Prestonsburg3.6 miles17
Prestonsburg4.0 miles17
Whitaker4.2 miles17
Lancer4.2 miles18
Bull Creek4.4 miles18
Bonanza5.5 miles17

Provenance

This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 507465. The sheet list is computed by point-in-boundary test against the United States Geological Survey's historical topographic inventory. Both are works of the United States government and carry no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.

Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.

Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.

Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.