Hundreds hospitalized with breathing problems amid Chattanooga-area wildfire outbreak

High winds and smoke made fighting the fire today on Bonnelia Circle difficult. Flames can be seen in the middle of the picture High winds and smoke made fighting the fire today on Bonnelia Circle difficult. Flames can be seen in the middle of the picture

By Staff Report November 14, 2016 5 min read

Photo Gallery

Wildfires continue with no rain imminent

Two major fires burn at the Flipper Bend forest fire atop Walden Ridge in this view to the southwest from Montlake. The lights on the horizon, at left, is the Northgate Mall portion of Hixson. Crews from Tennessee State Parks, the Tennessee Department of Agriculture Forestry Division and U.S. Forestry Service personnel from the Bureau of Land Management were on scene as two Air National Guard BlackHawk helicopters sporadically dumped water on the expanding blaze.

A southbound pickup is dwarfed by the white smoke from the Flipper Bend fire late Tuesday in view of U.S. Highway 27, in Soddy-Daisy.

Volunteer firefighter's with the Sequoyah Volunteer Fire Department depart to work the Mowbray Mountain fire on Thursday in Soddy-Daisy.

Staff Photo by Dan Henry / The Chattanooga Times Free Press- 11/9/16. A aircraft from the US Forestry Service drops fire retardant on a wildfire burning along the Flipper Bend area of Signal Mountain on November 9, 2016. According to a Hamilton County Government release this morning over 780 acres have burned on Flipper Bend and another 230 plus acres on nearby Mowbray Mountain.

Wildfires ravage Southeast

More than 200 patients have been treated in Chattanooga for shortness of breath and other breathing difficulties related to the circle of wildfires surrounding the city.

Since Friday, CHI Memorial has treated 96 patients in Chattanooga and Hixson for breathing difficulties related to the smoke, including 37 in the past 24 hours.

Erlanger has treated nearly 120 patients for shortness of breath since Nov. 1, an increase over the typical number of such patients the hospital sees, the hospital said in a news release. The worst day for breathing complaints at Erlanger was Nov. 10, when 15 patients complained about shortness of breath, about triple the usual number.

Erlanger pointed out that it treats symptoms, and it is unknown if all patients with breathing complaints came to the hospital because of the wildfires.

The region’s wildfire epidemic shows no signs of slowing, with no rain in the forecast and additional fires popping up on a regular basis.