Fire creeps through Gramercy swamp

By River parishes bureau

CONVENT -- The Kaiser Aluminum and Chemical Corp. plant diverted water into the smoldering Gramercy swamp Thursday to help douse a slow-burning fire that sent smoke mingling with a heavy fog, forcing closure of numerous roads in St. James Parish.

Sheriff Willy Martin said the swamp floor is dry, and a fire of undetermined origin has been creeping through the area for days, Martin said.

The mixture of smoke and heavy fog Thursday morning shut down the Veterans Memorial Bridge over the Mississippi River, U.S. 61 from Garyville in St. John the Baptist Parish to the Baton Rouge side of Gramercy, La. 18, La. 3125, La. 44 and La. 641, the sheriff said.

Martin said firefighters started a controlled burn in an attempt to halt the spread of the fire, but the blaze "is still crawling at a very slow rate," he said.

"It may take another day or two to burn out," Martin said.