Tenn. Families Evacuated Due to Fire Return
Most of the 10 families forced to evacuate their Bluff Mountain homes returned Saturday as firefighters beat back threatening wildfires.
“The fire was up to a very few yards from the homes,” said Danette Conner of the Sevier County Rescue Squad.
A fire consumed one home and an unoccupied building late Friday, prompting the evacuation. No injuries were reported.
But authorities worried that winds associated with a cold front would move through the state by Monday, worsening conditions.
The fire was one of several burning in the eastern half of the state--from northeast Tennessee to Knoxville, west to the Cumberland Plateau and south to Chattanooga.
Robin Bible, operations officer at the state Division of Forestry, said the state’s largest fire Saturday, a 4,900-acre blaze near Manson, was contained, as was a 2,300-acre fire about five miles away in Overton County that killed a firefighter.
Dave Freeland, information officer with the California Interagency Incident Management Team, said crews on Bluff Mountain have faced burning conditions more typical of Southern California blazes.
Freeland is with one of the teams from California and Florida coordinating the fight against fires that have charred more than 30,000 acres since October.
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
