SEVIERVILLE — Many firefighters who have been working in Sevier County since Wednesday have been able to rest, as officials believed that they have contained the fire in Wears Valley Monday, and they were working to contain another blaze near Seymour.
The fire in in Seymour, near the Blount/Sevier line, was about 75% contained Monday afternoon but wildland firefighters from the Tennessee Division of Forestry were still actively working in the area.
“We’re still having backfire operations where we’re cleaning up some fuel between the fire and the fire line so there’s going to still be some smoke in the area,” Area Forester Brook Smith said.
That fire, which started last Thursday in the remote, undeveloped region, had burned about 678 acres but only affected two homes.
The Hatcher Mountain fire that started Wednesday in the Wears Valley area was about 98% contained, Smith said.
It burned 2,498 acres, as the area affected has come down once firefighters were able to do more assessments as it was contained.
They believe it affected about 300 structures. Some estimates said that about 50 of those were permanent residences; many of the cabins in Wears Valley are rentals or second homes.
The Tennessee Division of Forestry was still monitoring the fire but local fire departments had all returned to their stations that afternoon.
The cause of the fires has not been determined.
Firefighters around the county were keeping a watchful eye out, as they assessed that the risk of fires Monday was even higher than it was estimated last Wednesday.
By Monday afternoon, there had been reports of a few small fires but they’d been extinguished before they could spread, Smith said.
The local departments have been running a few calls,” he said. “Fires are still popping up in the area but they’re getting on them before they turn into anything.”
Sevier County Mayor Larry Waters said he wanted to thank all the state, local, and federal agencies that assisted in the efforts to fight the fires and assist displaced families last week.
“We have had literally hundreds of folks come into Sevier County and spent the last few days helping fight and contain these fires,” he said. “We certainly appreciate that.”
He singled out a team who have led the efforts to contain the fires: Pigeon Forge Fire Chief Tony Watson, Sevier County Fire Administrator David Puckett, Sevier County Emergency Management Director Joe Ayers and Bruce Miller, incident commander for the Tennessee Division of Forestry.
He also offered thanks for volunteers who helped at the staging areas and in other efforts.
“(Pigeon Forge City Manager) Earlene Teaser and I had an opportunity today to visit with a lot of the folks who are volunteering in our area, foks in the staging area for firefighters, folks who are feeding them at Pigeon Forge High School, and thank them for the work they are doing and what we told them earlier was because of that work I firmly believe lives have been saved and property has been saved,” he said.