MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Tenn. (WTVF) — It happens every year, around this time. Drivers see smoke billowing out of a barn and call 911. But what some call an emergency, a Middle Tennessee farmer calls a way of life.
"No two barns will fire the same every year, no barns fire the same in the same period," said Timothy Head, a tobacco farmer in Cedar Hill, Tennessee.
Head estimates he's the eighth generation of his family to farm tobacco on the Robertson, Montgomery County line.
"This area here, we have the combination of the right soils and hardwoods to cure it out. And at one time this was the dark fire capital of the world," said Head.
The process hasn't changed much over hundreds of years.
"Well, we start in early May, mid-May, putting it into the ground," said Head.
Along with a team of migrant workers, they grow tobacco leaves in the summer sun. When the temperatures start to fall, the leaves are cut and stored inside the family's barns.
"At some point, I’ll have this barn up to about 135-140 degrees, and I want it bone dry top to bottom when I come out of it," he said.
But to get it ready for cigar and snuff manufacturers, dark-fired tobacco has to cure in smoke for nearly a month.
"The less saw dust you put, the less flame you’ll get, the hotter it’ll burn," said Head. "Then, [the leaves will] turn completely brown."
As you might expect, tobacco curing can often turn heads.
"There was a guy standing there with the door open and runs up to the tractor and tells me that my barn’s on fire," said Head, who replied, "What, what are you doing?"
It can also create a burning desire to call the fire department.
"I would say 20-30 calls every year, maybe more," said Ed Baggett, the Montgomery County EMA Director.
Baggett says, even though the callers may mean well, by law they have to check on each call.
"If we’re tying up resources checking a barn that’s not on fire, and then we get a structure fire, then our resources are tied up on that. That’s a dangerous situation," he said.
That's why the Montgomery County EMA office is hoping to send up a signal.
"If it’s white smoke, typically they’re firing tobacco. If it’s black smoke, then the barn’s probably on fire," said Baggett.
But for those who have been around it for a lifetime, it's a smell and a surefire sign of the season to come.
"Firing tobacco and football season," said Head with a laugh.
You can expect to see those smoky barns around Montgomery, Robertson, Cheatham, Stewart, Henry and other mid-state counties for the next month.
