Oak Ridge Today

Updated: Arson suspected in mountain fire emitting miles-long smoke plume

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Arson is suspected in a fire that has burned about 450 acres in mountain forests about five miles northeast of Petros, authorities said. Smoke from the fire is pictured above from Highway 116 in north Anderson County on Monday, Nov. 21, 2016. The smoke plume could be seen for miles. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

beech-grove-fire-from-rosedale-nov-21-2016-web

Arson is suspected in a fire that has burned about 450 acres in mountain forests about five miles northeast of Petros, authorities said. Smoke from the fire is pictured above from Highway 116 in north Anderson County on Monday, Nov. 21, 2016. The smoke plume could be seen for miles. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

PETROS—Arson is suspected in a fire that started this weekend and has burned about 452 acres in mountain forests a few miles east and northeast of Petros, authorities said Monday.

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More than 4,000 acres burned in Anderson County, state records say

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More than 4,000 acres have burned this month in four fires in rugged, forested parts of north Anderson County, state officials said Thursday. Smoke hangs high in the air above the mountains north of Oliver Springs on Thursday evening, Nov. 10, 2016. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

Note: This story was updated at 3:20 p.m. Nov. 12.

NEW RIVER—More than 4,000 acres have burned this month in five fires in mountainous north Anderson County, state officials said.

In Anderson County, 4,235 acres had been burned by the five fires as of Saturday afternoon, according to an update posted by the Tennessee Department of Agriculture Division of Forestry. That was the most acres burned by fires that were still active in Tennessee on Saturday.

Arson is listed as the cause of four of the Anderson County fires, according to the update. Debris is the cause of another.

Smoke from at least two fires hung high above the mountains north of Oak Ridge and Oliver Springs on Thursday evening. It reduced visibility to a few hundred feet on the northernmost section of Highway 116 in rural Anderson County on Friday morning. Smoke was thick near a bridge at a 90-degree bend in the highway at the Campbell County line in northern Anderson County, irritating throats and making it harder to breathe. Firefighters said there was a nearby fire that they called Bootjack, up Stoney Fork Road, which goes north into Campbell County. [Read more…]

Arson suspected in three fires that burn close to 2,000 acres in Anderson County

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The Tennessee Division of Forestry said on Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2016, that the 900-acre Beech Grove fire in Devonia along Highway 116 in north Anderson County was contained. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

Note: This story was updated at 11:20 a.m. Nov. 10.

NEW RIVER—Arson is suspected in three fires that have burned close to 2,000 acres in mountainous north Anderson County in the past week, authorities said Tuesday.

The largest fire, the Three Heads Fire in Double Camp behind Rosedale Elementary School on Highway 116, was estimated to have started on November 2. Crews had been holding it at about 1,500 acres, but someone went in behind firefighters and restarted the fire in a mountain gap about two days ago, said Bruce Miller, Tennessee Division of Forestry forestry technician in Anderson County.

Crews had to go to the north end of Anderson County to cut off the fire, which has grown to 1,600 acres, Miller said.

“It’s going to get bigger,” he said.

The fire is northeast of the Tennessee Valley Authority wind turbines on Buffalo Mountain, which are visible from Oak Ridge on a clear day. No personal property was reported to be at risk on Tuesday morning. A Tennessee Division of Forestry bulldozer was headed to the fire when Oak Ridge Today interviewed Miller in New River. [Read more…]