WARREN COUNTY, Tenn. (WTVF) — A wildfire in Warren County is now under control after around-the-clock efforts from volunteer firefighters over the last 36 hours.
Several communities, including the Hills Creek community, were previously asked to evacuate out of an abundance of caution.
Harrison Ferry Volunteer Fire Chief Lynn Curtis knew exactly where and what he was up against.
"Right in that general area right there," said Curtis, as he pointed to a map. "And these wind conditions also, I mean they’re fighting against us."
The problem was — how could he get crews in place to fight the fire?
"The location of the fire was down and under the bluff on the side of the mountain. And the access to get into that was almost nonexistent," said Curtis.
So fire crews were forced to watch 70 acres of wilderness around Spring Creek burn while firefighters stand guard over any potential homes and structures.
"(We have been) setting up stage posts with several different fire departments throughout this area, and protecting the structures as the fire comes up and out of the gulf," he said.
The effort has been around the clock for this purely volunteer force.
"I ain’t been in a bed since night before last," said Curtis.
That is, until hope flew in with a chain and a bucket.
"Today we got lucky. We got a Blackhawk," he said.
The Tennessee National Guard has been a game changer, considering they can dump water from a nearby pond directly onto the fire in locations where firefighters simply can't access it because of the terrain. Once the guard arrived, it became the first chance to fight the fire head-on.
"That’s putting a hammer on it right there," said Curtis, as he watched from a command post.
The wildfire started Monday morning, near a yoga and spiritual retreat called Isha. According to the Warren County Sheriff, a person banned from the property set up a camp and fire on the Isha property, and it got out of control from there.
"That’s the least of my worries, how it got started or who started it," explained Chief Curtis.
All the chief cares about is when this nightmare in Warren County can end.
"Sometimes you just roll with the punches, and get it done," said Curtis.
Thankfully, so far, no homes or structures have been damaged by the fire.
