West Van Lear, Kentucky
17 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1886 and the latest in 1992. It stands in the Paintsville census division. It lies in ZIP code area 41268. It stands on Burnt Cabin Branch. The Survey maps it on the Paintsville quadrangle.
Topographic sheets covering this place
11 surveys from 17 printed sheetsMatched 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.
- 1886 USGS Prestonsburg quadrangle1:125000
- 1892 USGS Prestonsburg quadrangle1:125000, 4 printings
- 1915 USGS Paintsville quadrangle1:48000
- 1917 USGS Paintsville quadrangle1:62500, 3 printings
- 1954 USGS Paintsville quadrangle1:24000
- 1957 USGS Jenkins quadrangle1:250000
- 1960 USGS Jenkins quadrangle1:250000
- 1962 USGS Paintsville quadrangle1:24000
- 1971 USGS Paintsville quadrangle1:24000, 2 printings
- 1982 USGS Williamson quadrangle1:100000
- 1992 USGS Paintsville quadrangle1:24000
Fires near this place
239 since 1997Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 239 fires within 5 miles of West Van Lear between 1997 and 2020, burning about 5,964 acres in total. None started naturally. 53 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 burning | 78 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 56 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 53 |
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 48 |
| Railroad operations and maintenance | 4 |
The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.
| Date | Cause | Size | Reported by | Name on the report |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9 September 2019 | Debris and open burning | 5.0 acres | Kentucky Division of Forestry | COLEMAN BRANCH |
| 9 September 2019 | Debris and open burning | 5.0 acres | Kentucky Division of Forestry | ROUTE 302 |
| 5 September 2007 | Debris and open burning | 170 acres | Kentucky Division of Forestry | MIDDLE FORK |
| 28 September 1998 | Arson/incendiarism | 4.0 acres | Kentucky Division of Forestry | not named |
| 25 September 2008 | Debris and open burning | 30 acres | Kentucky Division of Forestry | not named |
| 24 September 2008 | Debris and open burning | 25 acres | Kentucky Division of Forestry | not named |
| 24 September 2007 | Debris and open burning | 40 acres | Kentucky Division of Forestry | not named |
| 24 September 1999 | Arson/incendiarism | 2.0 acres | Kentucky Division of Forestry | not named |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
4 within 5 milesRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 4 workings within 5 miles of West Van Lear: 3 prospects, 1 past producer. None of them still produces. What was taken out: Clay, Silica. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.
| Where | Site | Commodity | Status | Recorded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Levisa Fork Sandstone Pit | Silica | Past Producer | ||
| East Point Roadcut | Clay | Prospect | ||
| Greasy Creek Clay Bed | Clay | Prospect | ||
| Whippoorwill Branch Shale | Clay | Prospect |
Storms near this place
2 since 1998Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names West Van Lear in 2 storm reports between 1998 and 2022: 2 thunderstorm wind. 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.
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.
Provenance
This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 509343. 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.










