Mountain on fire...

As you all know (or will after this) I moved to Memphis from a small town in East TN that I had lived in from 1992 - 1999. Well.. today I got a phone call from my Brother telling me that a mountain was on fire. It's called Sandy Bottom. I have friends that live on that mountain. My Mom. Sister, Niece, Brother & his fiance' all live near this mountain. I have friends that are firefighters. It's yet to be contained....

Here's one article on it.. and some pics my Brother took.

ERWIN — A 70-year-old Erwin man set fires to a section of the Cherokee National Forest in Unicoi County Easter Sunday, according to local authorities.
Unicoi County Sheriff Kent Harris said Oliver E. Masters, 70, of Erwin, deliberately set the blaze, which had consumed more than 100 acres of the mountainous Sandy Bottom area of the county by nightfall.
The fires were started shortly before noon Sunday along Sandy Bottom Road, which runs along the Nolichuckey River, and Polly Erwin Road, Harris said.
The area on fire was just off exit 15 on Interstate 26.
Harris said he and his investigators suspected that Masters had set the fires earlier in the day, but had to get an arrest warrant and speak to District Attorney Mark Hill before acting.
“We found both points of origin down close to the roadways,” he said. “These two were intentional. Our information puts him at both fire locations.”
Harris said Masters was driving along Polly Erwin Road and Sandy Bottom Road when he stopped his car, got out and set the fires for unknown reasons.
A passenger in Masters’ car reportedly provided this information to investigators.
Harris said he spoke to Masters several times during the course of the day. Between visits to Masters’ house, Harris said he received a call saying Masters was threatening to shoot Harris or anyone else who came to arrest him.
When Harris went back to talk to Masters, he said he found a .22-caliber rifle just inside the door.
Masters was not brandishing it and allegedly had no intention of using it, Harris said.
“So I took the rifle for self-protection,” Harris said.
At press time, Masters’ arrest had not been confirmed.
For now, Masters will be charged with two counts of reckless burning. Harris said it is possible that those charges will be upgraded after completion of the investigation.
No one was reportedly hurt in the fires as of 10 p.m. Sunday.
The fires had not yet touched any houses, and U.S. Forest Service, Tennessee District Ranger Terry Bowerman said there were plenty of crews on the ground guarding the structures that were in danger.
“I would say there are houses threatened but probably... not in grave danger,” Bowerman said.
“The fire is burning pretty slowly and the flame lengths are pretty short and there is no wind. But it is a wildfire, so things are unpredictable.”
Harris said he was worried about the fires’ proximity to homes as well. He said this was, “Probably the closest residential fire we’ve had in this area in a long time.”
Harris said his main concern Sunday night was the nearby section of I-26 becoming to smokey for motorists to navigate.
“Our worry now is that smoke may lay over the interstate tonight and make it virtually impassable,” Harris said.
People were very scarred, Harris said. In some places the fire was less than 100 feet from homes.
“It’s one thing for an accident to happen, but to go around and set fires like that, it’s dangerous and expensive,” Harris said.
Numerous agencies had to be called to respond to the emergency. More than 100 personnel responded.
Harris said area residents provided food and water for the firefighters and other emergency workers. Harris said he wanted to thank all the people who made donations.
The thick, black-grey smoke had already begun to smother the surrounding area by about 8 p.m.
A helicopter was dipping water out of the Nolichuckey and doing fly-bys over the mountain, dropping its load. Fire crews were keeping the flames at bay and bulldozers were forming containment lines all along the mountain.
By the time the fire was expected to be contained, it will have consumed about 150 acres, Bowerman said.
“It’s about 70 percent contained right now,” he said. “By midnight we’ll have it contained.”
This is the second fire to break out in the area in as many days. The Rocky Fort fire began Friday just a few miles down the road. That fire was accidental, authorities said. It has since been contained.

This is the view from my Mom's house...

My Brother just IM'd me and said that it's burning again... still not contained. It's almost to the homes that are at the bottom of the mountain. My friend has lost acres upon acres of his farm land. This is not a good thing.