On Facebook Tuesday, Cumberland County Fire/Rescue posted, “Several control burns in the last 24 hours have resulted in the loss of personal property and maxed out all available resources to deal with these fires. Please do not burn your debris until it rains.” The Forestry Department is not issuing burn permits at this time. If you burn debris without a permit and it gets out of control, you could face charges.
Wildfires continue to flare up across the region due to drought conditions and falling leaves. An active burn ban has been put in place in Morgan County and there is a campfire ban until further notice in the Catoosa Wildlife Management Area. By 2:30 Tuesday afternoon, the Anderson County wildfire on the ridge overlooking Rocky Top near Scott Brogan Lane had grown from 190 acres to 210 acres and was 85 percent contained. This blaze would later encompass almost 400 acres. At least 43 firefighters were reportedly working that blaze. By Thursday it along with the TIOGA wildfire in west Anderson County were 100% contained.
The Pocket Wilderness wildfire continued to burn in Rhea County Tuesday afternoon but had not spread beyond the 260 acres reported the previous day and was 90 percent contained. The park was closed until further notice. By late Wednesday, this blaze was considered 100 percent contained.