A wildfire on Daus Mountain in South Sequatchie County burned almost 500 acres, damaged homes and outbuildings and forced evacuations as firefighters worked to get the blaze under control.
Overnight rains Sunday evening and Monday morning potentially helped, and the fire was about 50% contained late Sunday as rains moved in, said Megan Carpenter, spokesperson for the Tennessee Division of Forestry. The agency fights forest fires on state land with help from local firefighting agencies. Several fire companies from surrounding communities responded to help state forestry and Dunlap firefighters battle the blaze.
By nightfall Sunday, state fire officials reported three separate fires burning on Woodcock Road, Ridgeland Trail and Smith Road, according to a post on the agency’s social media page. At that point in the blaze, about 450 acres along Woodcock Road was reported on fire, and another 25 acres of land was on fire on Ridgeland Trail and Smith Road.
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“It looks like we have 17 people on site, and we’ve got a number of dozers there,” said Carpenter. “Today we’re working to get 100% containment today.”
A wildfire is contained when a control line has been established around the fire that can reasonably be expected to stop the fire’s spread, according to forestry officials. A wildfire is controlled when a control line is completed around the main fire and associated spot fires, and crews begin working to cool down hot spots that are immediate threats to the control line.
“Yesterday, we had a U.S. Coast Guard Service tanker and a helicopter,” Carpenter said.
The airdrops and overnight rain helped firefighters get the blaze contained, Norman Hatfield, chief of the Dunlap Volunteer Fire Department, said in a phone interview.
(READ MORE: Brush fires in Walker County contained)
“We did receive enough rain that it is probably 100% contained now,” Hatfield said Monday.
Hatfield said the blaze started Sunday on the lower slopes of the west side of the valley and winds blew the flames up the bluffs onto the top of the mountain, forcing some residents to temporarily flee for safety.
Some firefighters from the South End Volunteer Fire Department were almost trapped by the quick-spreading blaze, Hatfield said. Once assisting agencies joined the battle, firefighters began to get the upper hand with help from the rain.
Two other small fires ignited elsewhere in the county Sunday, one along State Route 28 and on Smith Mountain in the north end of the county, Hatfield said.
Sunday’s blaze damaged at least two homes, a barn and several outbuildings, Hatfield said. There were no injuries reported.
Contact Ben Benton at bbenton@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6569.