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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.

West Van Lear within Johnson County

Topographic sheets covering this place

11 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

239 since 1997

Regional 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 burning78
Recreation and ceremony56
Arson/incendiarism53
Missing data/not specified/undetermined48
Railroad operations and maintenance4

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
5 September 2007Debris and open burning170 acresKentucky Division of ForestryMIDDLE FORK
28 September 1998Arson/incendiarism4.0 acresKentucky Division of Forestrynot named
25 September 2008Debris and open burning30 acresKentucky Division of Forestrynot named
24 September 2008Debris and open burning25 acresKentucky Division of Forestrynot named
24 September 2007Debris and open burning40 acresKentucky Division of Forestrynot named
24 September 1999Arson/incendiarism2.0 acresKentucky Division of Forestrynot named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Johnson County

Mines and quarries near this place

4 within 5 miles

Regional 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 SiteCommodity StatusRecorded
Levisa Fork Sandstone PitSilicaPast Producer
East Point RoadcutClayProspect
Greasy Creek Clay BedClayProspect
Whippoorwill Branch ShaleClayProspect

Every working recorded in Johnson County

Storms near this place

2 since 1998

Regional 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.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
June 2022Thunderstorm WindWest Van Lear$20,000A tree was blown down and onto a home in the West Van Lear community, in addition to large tree limbs being blow down.
June 1998Thunderstorm WindWest Van Lear$3,000Power lines downed.

Every storm recorded in Johnson 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
Dawkins0.4 miles17
Hagerhill0.7 miles17
Van Lear1.6 miles17
Meally2.3 miles16
Collista2.3 miles17
Paintsville2.4 miles17
Thelma2.4 miles17
Thealka2.5 miles17

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.