Smoke From Southeast Wildfires Kills 1 in Kentucky, Sends Hundreds in Tennessee to Hospitals

Ada Carr
Published: November 16,2016
Dozens of wildfires continue to burn in the Southeast, spewing clouds of smoke that have contributed to at least one death in Kentucky and sent hundreds in Tennessee to the hospital for respiratory issues.
Kentucky State police said a coal truck driver died Wednesday morning after he was struck by a vehicle in the eastern part of the state where smoke decreased visibility. The driver was involved in a series of wrecks that left 14 others injured.
According to the Times-Press, more than 200 patients have been hospitalized in Chattanooga, Tennessee, since Friday for shortness of breath and other respiratory difficulties related to the wildfires that have encircled the city.
Medical professionals in East Tennessee told WATE that there has been a spike in patients complaining of breathing troubles.
“Typically we tell them to limit outdoor activities, make sure they’re taking their respiratory medicine exactly as prescribed,” nurse practitioner Ashley Heinz told the news station. “And then if they find that they’re having increased symptoms, needing their rescue medications more frequently, then they should make an appointment with their health care provider.”
Air quality alerts have been issued across the region, with residents as far south as Atlanta facing a red alert Wednesday, meaning air quality is unhealthy for all individuals.

Horses graze in a haze of smoke at the University of Georgia's Livestock Instructional Arena in Athens, Georgia, Tuesday, Nov. 15, 2016. Smoke from fires in North Georgia, Tennessee, and North Carolina have been drifting across Georgia.
(John Roark/Athens Banner-Herald via AP)

Fueled by prolonged drought conditions in the Southeast, the fires have burned more than 80,000 acres in five states and have prompted officials to declare states of emergency in Tennessee, North Carolina and Kentucky, according to CNN.
"All of the Southeast is very dry ... fire doesn't know any boundaries," Brian Haines, spokesman for the North Carolina Forest Service, told CNN. "Drought conditions are contributing to drier and larger forest fuels being available. These range from the undergrowth to sticks, leaves and logs. Even the smallest of sparks can ignite these very dry fuels."
According to WNCN.com, more than a thousand North Carolina residents were evacuated from Lake Lure, Chimney Rock, Bat Cave and Rumbling Bald Resort in Rutherford County after the so-called Party Rock fire continued to advance near Chimney Rock State Park. The fire has consumed nearly 4,500 acres and was 19 percent contained by Tuesday night, according to InciWeb.
"We're hoping for the best and preparing for the worst," North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory said at a news conference Monday.
(MORE: Because of Fires, Southeast's Air Quality Is Worse Than Some Chinese Towns)

A haze hovers over the midtown skyline from a wildfire burning in the Northwest part of the state, Monday, Nov. 14, 2016, in Atlanta.
(AP Photo/David Goldman)

"The major goal of firefighters is to try to contain this and have it burn inward as opposed to expanding, but the fact of the matter is the fires are expanding under these incredibly difficult conditions," McCrory said.
Mandatory evacuations were already issued in parts of five other North Carolina counties: Henderson, Graham, Swain, Clay and Macon, according to WNCN.
More than 5,000 firefighters and support staff from around the nation have poured into the Southeast to help fight the fires, according to Shardul Raval, U.S. Forest Service Director of Fire and Aviation Management for the Southern Region. About 40 aircraft, including three large air tankers flying out of Chattanooga, have been brought in.

Arson to Blame For Many of the Fires

Many of the fires are the result of arson, officials say, and three people have been arrested thus far, according to the Associated Press.
Police in eastern Kentucky say they have arrested a man described as a "wannabe meteorologist" who deliberately set a wildfire in an attempt to garner a larger Facebook following. Johnny Mullins, 21 of Jenkins, Kentucky, faces a charge of second-degree arson for a blaze in Letcher County, Jenkins Police Chief James Stephens told the AP.

A view of the Party Rock fire in North Carolina from the Bat Cave Baptist Church.
(John Cayton/Facebook)

"(Mullins) likes to do Facebook videos and have people follow him on his 'weather forecast,'" Jenkins Police Chief James Stephens told the AP. "So that's pretty much why he did what he did. He enjoyed the attention he got from the Facebook stuff."
According to Stephens, Mullins posted selfie videos on Facebook that were recorded in front of various fires. He called them "Weather Outlook" segments and received 2,900 views on his final video, which he posted Nov. 6.
Another unidentified teen was also arrested on suspicion of arson in Harlan, Kentucky, and a man was charged in Tennessee with setting fires and vandalism that caused more than $250,000 in damage outside Chattanooga.
According to the Courier-Journal, at least 150 of 210 wildfires — or 76 percent — that have broken out since October in Kentucky are arson-related, the Kentucky Energy and Environmental Cabinet reported.

North Carolina

Hundreds of acres have burned in Western North Carolina after multiple wildfires broke out, prompting the evacuation of dozens of residents in affected areas, according to the Citizen-Times.
Northwest of Franklin, the Tellico fire began on Nov. 3. The largest of North Carolina's active fires, it has consumed about 13,679 acres and is 74 percent contained.
The blaze has prompted a state of emergency in Swain and Macon counties, the Citizen-Times also reported.
In addition to the Party Rock fire, a wildfire that began on Nov. 4 north of Santeetlah Lake, dubbed the Maple Springs fire, has burned more than 7,700 acres and was 42 percent contained as of Wednesday, according to InciWeb.
The Boteler fire near Hayesville in Clay County has reportedly consumed almost 9,000 acres and is 43 percent contained as of Tuesday night.

Georgia

Air quality alerts were issued for north and central Georgia on Monday and Tuesday as wind-driven smoke wafted south from dozens of fires burning in northern counties.
The blazes have put residents of small mountain communities on edge.
"A lot of the ladies just went to tears and said this happens in other places, it doesn't happen here," Liberty Baptist Church pastor Scott Cates told the Associated Press. Townspeople in Tiger have been donating water, cough drops and other supplies for firefighters.
"It doesn't die down after dark," said fire Capt. Ron Thalacker, who came from Carlsbad, New Mexico, with a fire engine that draws water from streams and ponds to spray on hot spots in Rabun County.
According to firefighter Chad Cullum of Billings, Montana, these fires are clinging to the ground and actively burning 24 hours a day.
Lifelong Rabun County resident Tim Free broke down while describing how elderly neighbors are struggling with the relentless smoke, which has become so thick that it blocks out the sun.

"Anybody that's outside of their homes is going to have to have somthing that will basically lubricate their throats - cough drops, lozenges or even a stick of peppermint," said Free. "Just to get a little lubricant in your eyes is something that's needed daily because of the smoke."
A small wildfire that started in Bartow County is moving towards the Cobb County line, WXIA-TV reported. The blaze scorched five acres, but officials were able to contain it with a firewall.
The largest of the fires is the Rough Ridge Fire in the Cohutta Wilderness area of the Chattahoochee National Forest. The fire, which began on Oct. 16 from a lightning strike, has burned more than 23,750 acres and remains at 30 percent contained as of Wednesday.
Smoke from that and other fires has prevented the use of aircraft to support the firefighting effort, reports InciWeb, noting that "rough terrain and continued leaf fall is causing problems by covering control lines and increasing reburn potential."
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The Rock Mountain Fire in Rabun County has burned nearly 6,747 acres and is 10 percent contained as of Wednesday.
Monday Gov. Nathan Deal signed an executive order banning fireworks statewide, according to WSBTV.com.
Authorities in the county are seeking a suspected arsonist that may have purposely started at least five small fires.
According to the Clayton Tribune, the Rabun County Sheriff’s Office is on the lookout for a white male driving a dark blue SUV that was seen in the areas of the Rabun fires.

Kentucky and Tennessee

Wednesday a coal truck driver was killed during a series of wrecks caused by decreased visibility from smoke.
Kentucky State Police Trooper Scott Ferrell said the man exited his truck to check on a driver whose vehicle hit his truck and was struck by a third vehicle.
Ferrell said about 15 vehicles were involved in chain reaction collisions around 9 a.m. on Mountain Parkway. The wrecks occurred in Powell County and shut the parkway down for almost 10 hours.
After dozens of fires broke out this week, the state's Department for Public Health issued a smoke inhalation advisory for the southeastern part of the state due to poor air quality and Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin declared a state of emergency, according to Fox News.
Two woodland fires burning in Breathitt County have consumed 3,500 and 2,200 acres respectively, according to WEKU.

As of Tuesday, 67 fires are burning in Tennesee and have consumed more than 15,000 acres, WKRN.com reports.
“We are smoked out here in Cleveland,” Terry McDonald, public affairs officer at the Cherokee National Forest, told the Knoxville News Sentinel.
The Tennessee Department of Health reported that more than 200 have been hospitalized in Chattanooga for shortness of breath or breathing difficulties due to the fires.
The Tennesee Emergency Management Agency declared a Level 3 State of Emergency in response to the prolonged threat of drought and wildfires across the state, according to WBIR.com.
A forest fire trapped seven firefighters west of Kingsport, reports Fox News. All seven firefighters were later accounted for and none were injured, according to Gary Murrell, director of the Hawkins County Emergency Management Agency.
Nathan Waters, assistant forester of the East Tennessee District, said the wildfires keep cropping up, making conditions difficult for weary firefighters.
“We have been battling fires since well before Halloween,” Waters said. “When you have forest fires it takes a long time to get them out. It wears out the equipment and wears out the people. We are very fortunate compared to the Cumberland District; they have had larger issues.”
One of the largest wildfires is burning on Signal Mountain, along the Tennessee-Georgia border.
Anderson County is fighting four fires that have burned 4,230 acres, Campbell County has seven fires that have consumed 620 acres, Cumberland County has three fires burning 508 acres and Morgan County has five fires burning 600 acres, WBIR.com reports.