Evacuation orders are still in effect for Hatcher Mountain, Indigo and Cove Creek roads, and Shagbark resort.
In Seymour, the Millstone Gap fire continues to burn uncontained in a remote area, though those in the area between South Rogers Road and the Blount County line were ordered to evacuate.
The Pigeon Forge Community Center continues to provide hot meals and shelter for those affected by the fire. Relief for evacuees is also available at Seymour Heights Baptist Church.
No fatalities have been reported, but at least five government vehicles have been destroyed, and one person was injured.
Speculation has swirled that downed power lines were responsible for the blaze that erupted Wednesday on Indigo Lane, but the state announced Friday that the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, along with the Tennessee Department of Agriculture Crime Unit and the Sevier County Sheriff’s Office will “investigate the cause and origin of the Hatcher Mountain/Indigo Lane fire.”
Most citizens within the areas ordered to evacuate Wednesday and Thursday heeded agency warnings.
Meanwhile, federal fire crews working on the Thomas Divide fire near Bryson City were departing after the fire was declared effectively extinguished. Some of those units were peeled off to work the Sevier County wildfires, according to the National Park Service.
UPDATE MARCH 31: The Hatcher Mountain/Indigo Lane fire continued to burn this afternoon on the ridges west of Wears Valley, where the wildfire has already destroyed numerous rental cabins and homes.
Sevier County Emergency Management Agency officials said they were beginning to assess the loss of structures, and urged people not to call 911 for the status of their properties.
The fire is believed to have started Wednesday in the Indigo Lane area in Sevier County. Days of low humidity and an overall shortage of rain prompted the National Weather Service to note heightened fire danger earlier this week, and it warned of high winds Wednesday morning. A gust of 60 mph was recorded overnight at Knoxville’s McGhee Tyson Airport. The fire has now consumed at least 2,500 acres since Wednesday.
A state forestry official told WBIR that some rainfall, increasing humidity and decreasing winds have allowed crews to be more aggressive with firebreaks, but the fire is still less than 10 percent contained.
Multiple municipal fire departments, including Knoxville, Oak Ridge, Chattanooga, and smaller agencies, such as Oliver Springs and Cosby, have responded with mutual aid.
Early spring is a natural time for fires in the Southern Appalachians due to fuels accumulated over fall and winter and the potential for dry and windy conditions.
Fall is the other main wildfire timeframe, and that was illustrated in horrible fashion in 2016, when a wildfire that started at the Chimneys in Great Smoky Mountains National Park eventually swept into developed areas around Gatlinburg. That fire killed at least 15 people and destroyed thousands of structures. Notable scars from the fire remain.
WEARS VALLEY Wind-driven wildfires closed in Wednesday evening on dozens of rental cabins and permanent homes perched on Hatcher Mountain above Wears Valley in Sevier County near the border of Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
Authorities ordered mandatory evacuations; media reports indicate several structures have already burned. At least one injury is reported. Wears Valley Road is closed between Pigeon Forge and Townsend.
Sevier County Emergency Management said in a 3:17 p.m. tweet: “A mandatory evacuation is in place for the Hatcher Mountain area of Wears Valley, and the resorts of Shagbark and Little Valley. Residents near these areas should also evacuate.” WBIR reports the fire now covers 250 acres west of Wears Valley Road (U.S. 321) and is not contained at all at this point. Firefighters from multiple agencies were headed to the scene, where backfires were being set.
The wildfire advances as fire crews try to get the upper hand on another forest fire along the southern boundary of Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The Thomas Divide fire, sparked by fallen power lines, encompasses 940 acres and is 60 percent contained, according to the park service. Other forest fires have been reported in recent days in the Knoxville metro area.
The federal government has also assigned 20 firefighters to the Hatcher Mountain/Indigo Lane fire in Wears Valley, according to the park service.
The National Weather Service has warned for several days of high wildfire danger given very low humidities and high winds. A high-wind warning is in place for most of East Tennessee and the mountains.
Rain is expected overnight, but wind gusts could approach 90 mph in the Smokies, according to the weather service.