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After burning 71 acres, Walden Ridge fire contained

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Walden Ridge Fire

Smoke plumes rise above Walden Ridge northeast of Oliver Springs on Tuesday, where a fire first reported Sunday burned about 71 acres before being contained.

OLIVER SPRINGS—The Walden Ridge fire first reported Sunday burned about 71 acres, but it is contained now, a state forester said Wednesday afternoon.

Fire crews have been able to use a bulldozer to clear a line around the blaze and contain it, said Nathan Waters, assistant district forester for the Tennessee Division of Forestry. They also used leaf blowers to move leaves—which can serve as light fuel—away from homes along Dutch Valley Road and to help build fire lines.

Waters said firefighters, who have left Walden Ridge, will check back again this afternoon and also tomorrow. They could continue to check back until the area gets a significant rain. [Read more…]

State firefighters suspect arson in Walden Ridge blaze

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Walden Ridge Fire

State officials suspect arson was the cause of a 225-acre fire that started on Walden Ridge in northern Anderson County on Tuesday night. Firefighters battled the blaze by building control lines around it—”fighting fire with fire.”

WALDEN RIDGE—State officials suspect arson as the cause of a 225-acre fire that started on Walden Ridge in northern Anderson County on Tuesday.

State and local firefighters have used hand tools and two bulldozers to remove fuel from around the fire, and they started a “back fire” to control the blaze. It’s “fighting fire with fire,” said Charles Via, Tennessee Division of Forestry fire resources coordinator in Knoxville.

He said the blaze appears to have started at a dump and spread into the woods. It was on Walden Ridge Road, but officials did not have to close the narrow, gravel road.

Although it’s now a controlled burn, flames are still flaring inside the control lines. Those control lines form what look like a giant ring of fire on Walden Ridge.

“This thing is large, and there is no way to put it out without the help of Mother Nature,” Via said Thursday.

[Read more…]