Firefighters spent much of the afternoon on Monday, March 27 fighting a fire in the woods off Cottage Hill Road that started as a controlled burn at a residence.
Larry Griffin
lgriffin@thesmokymountaintimes.com
A fire at 370 Cottage Hill Road caught attention on Monday afternoon as it burned and sent smoke billowing into the air. According to officials, it began with a controlled burn that got out of hand.
A call went out at 2:33 p.m. as the fire began to spread into the woods.
Responders got there by 2:42 p.m. and said two structures were immediately threatened, and the strike team was called to respond at 2:51 p.m. By 3 p.m., firefighters were set up all around the mountainous, hilly roads as they tried to contain the fire in the forest.
Trucks were at the house where it started and further down the hill, where they set up a fire line to prevent the fire from spreading further out, as debris and loose wood in the area was especially susceptible to catching fire.
Firefighters also fought the blaze from the other side of the forest, standing on a steep hill facing West Deep Creek Road.
According to Bryson City Fire Department Chief Charles Bryson, the fire affected about two acres.
Bryson added that there was another fire on June Bug Road at 5:11 p.m. Monday, which threatened one residence, one outbuilding and a vehicle and was on around half an acre. It was also caused by outside burning.
Then, there was a structure fire at 9:18 p.m. at 270 Brendle Road. Bryson said the cause of that fire is still unknown and under investigation as of press time.
“It’s a typical Spring fire season for us,” Bryson said over email. “We’ve been fortunate that we’ve had a little rain or it could be a lot worse.”