No one injured, no homes damaged in brush fire on Foley Hill north of Clinton

 

CLINTON—No one was injured and no homes were damaged during a brush fire on Foley Hill north of Clinton on Thursday.

The fire was 1.5 acres, and it was started by an “escaped debris fire,” the Tennessee Division of Forestry said. A warning was issued, officials said.

Residents who live off Jarnigan Chapel Road on the top of the hill said it started at the bottom of the hill, and the wind blew it up through the woods.

“It was horrifying,” said J.T. Taylor, who lives near the top of the hill. He said flames about 10 feet high came within 20 feet of his home.

The fire traveled from about halfway up the hill to the top within about three minutes, Taylor said.

“It was scary,” he said.

“The wind just blew it,” said James Taylor, who also lives near the top of the hill.

A lawn mower parked outside at the tree line at the Taylors’ home was burned.

Residents reported using garden hoses to try to stop the fire from spreading before firefighters arrived. There are four homes at the top of the hill near the fire.

One of those residents, Caren Look, said her seven-year-old granddaughter, Madilyn Clarke, who is visiting from Canada during spring break, saw the fire and alerted her. Look saw the flames moving up the hill and called 911.

The fire was reported at about 3:43 p.m. Thursday. Firefighters from Medford, Briceville, Clinton, and the Tennessee Division of Forestry responded with hand tools and fire engines, and tanker and mini-pump trucks. Foley Hill is northwest of downtown Clinton and a few blocks north of Clinton High School.

When they responded, firefighters worked to protect structures, said Dewayne Seiber, Medford Volunteer Fire Department captain. There were no injuries and no structural damage, he said.

The fire was reported to be about 90 percent extinguished at about 5:20 p.m. Thursday. Firefighters used hand tools and rakes to fight the fire, and they also used water.

They fought the fire at one home before moving to a second, Caren Look said.

James Taylor praised their work.

There were several other fires reported in Anderson County on Thursday and Friday.

The Tennessee Division of Forestry said about 40-50 acres burned in the area of Graves Gap in a suspected arson Thursday night. State fire crews were headed back there on Friday.

Another fire was reported along Vowell Mountain Lane in Briceville at about 1:58 a.m. Thursday. That was a three-acre power line fire, the Tennessee Division of Forestry said. Firefighters reported heavy winds at the fire, which was about a mile up Vowell Mountain Lane.

Separately, a brush fire was reported in the Oakdale area on Friday afternoon, and the Oakdale, Wartburg, and Coalfield fire departments responded to that blaze.

More information will be added as it becomes available.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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