Lower humidity and gusty winds at higher elevations mean fire conditions have worsened in East Tennessee, state firefighters said Sunday.
Two firefighters were slightly injured battling blazes in Campbell County on Saturday, said Nathan M. Waters, Tennessee Forestry Division assistant district forester.
State and local firefighters have responded to 16 new fires since Thanksgiving Day across upper East Tennessee, including in Anderson, Campbell, Knox, Morgan, Scott, Sevier, and Union counties. The fires have burned hundreds of acres, and many of them are suspected arsons.
Waters said forestry crews would recheck fires in Anderson, Scott, and Campbell counties, including one on Walden Ridge that broke out again on Saturday and one on a mountaintop west of Briceville on Highway 116, also known as New River Highway. The Walden Ridge breakout was contained, and “crews will be improving lines today,” Waters said.
