With fire nearly contained, homeowners begin to take stock of damage

SEVIERVILLE, Tenn. — Crews from the Tennessee Division of Forestry on Sunday continued to douse hot spots and fight the fires sparking near the Great Smoky Mountain National Park in Sevier County.

The Hatcher Mountain/Indigo Lane fire, the first to light on Wednesday morning, is nearly contained, and homeowners are beginning to take stock of the damage. The cause of the fire is still undetermined and under investigation.

Another smaller fire sparked near Seymour on Thursday but was 60% contained of Sunday afternoon.

At least 300 structures have been affected by the fires, which could mean anything from a burnt porch step to an entire cabin destroyed. Sevier County has posted an updated map on its Emergency Response webpage that marks each structure that has been assessed, as well as its condition.

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George Rainwater, the owner of Little Valley Mountain Resort Cabin Rentals, came up Sunday to survey the damage to his properties. He owns 35 cabins and operates a total of 80 for the resort in Sevierville.

Of the 80 properties he manages, only two were affected by the Hatcher Mountain/Indigo Lane fire, a number that likely would have been higher if firefighters from the Walden's Creek Volunteer Fire Department hadn't put in work Wednesday afternoon as the flames started.

“That’s really the great story — how they were able to prevent this from being so much worse,” Rainwater said.

Rainwater said Volunteer firefighters surveyed the areas as the fire started growing and moved out flammable material from near the cabins.

But some homes still caught fire, leaving a few cabins on Valley Springs Way with just the foundation left. Some structures looked nearly unharmed on Valley Springs Way, while others across the gravel road were completely burned down.

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Depending on which way the fire is coming, it may run through an entire structure and completely skip over others, said Ray Butler, a public information officer for the Tennessee Division of Forestry.

While the Hatcher Mountain/Indigo Lane fire is nearly contained, the Tennessee Division of Forestry is still working to douse hotspots in the area. Dillon Marsh, a forestry technician, has been spending his time pouring water over still-smoking areas to make sure they don't lift an ember that could ignite another area or home.

"We've basically been patrolling around all the all the cabins trying to put out hotspots in places where you see smoke in the stumps," Marsh said. "Anything that's around the cabin, that's a high profile area and the flames up it has potential to maybe get around the cabins and maybe catch fire."

In areas where its harder to get to from the ground, emergency authorities have been attempting to put out the fire from the air.

Helicopters, carrying 600 gallons of water each, have been going back and forth dousing different parts of the fire all day.

"This (Seymour) fire has been more difficult because of the very steep terrain, rocky slopes, (it's been) very hard for firefighters to access the mountains," said James Heaton with the Tennessee Division of Forestry.

How we got here

Wildfires sparked by dry, gusty wind conditions have burned more than 3,300 acres over four days beginning Wednesday. No fatalities have been reported, although two firefighters and a civilian were injured fighting the blazes.

The first fire, at Hatcher Mountain and Indigo Lane, was initially reported at about 11 a.m. Wednesday.

According to the National Weather Service, the Tennessee Valley and the Southern Appalachian region experienced high winds from the afternoon of Wednesday, March 30, through the afternoon of Thursday, March 31, The combination of high winds, dry ground (fuels), and low relative humidity produced a dangerous fire weather situation.

Waldens Creek Volunteer Fire Capt. Jon Lanier described the fire blowing up extremely quickly due to 30-40 mph winds.

"The conditions went from two to three acres, to 20 acres within about 10 minutes," Lanier said. "Structures were going up. It just blew straight up the mountain."

Crews from all across the state pitched in to evacuate residents, protect structures and contain the fire. By Sunday afternoon, the Hatcher Mountain/Indigo Lane fire was reported to be at 98% containment, with 2,498 acres burned.

A second, smaller fire erupted Thursday near Cold Springs Hollow Road in Seymour. That 678-acre fire, on the line between Blount and Sevier counties, has burned two structures.

Knox News public safety reporter Liz Kellar contributed to this story.

Becca Wright: Higher education reporter at Knox News
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This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: As wildfires in East Tennessee die down, victims return home to see damage