Crews from Florida have arrived to assist the Tennessee Department of Agriculture’s Division of Forestry fight wildfires in the southeastern part of the state.
As of Thursday, 53 fires were active in the Cumberland and East Tennessee Districts, affecting 9,680 acres.
The team from the Florida Forest Service will be stationed at the Incident Command Post in Kimball. The Kimball Incident Management Team (IMT) is supervising the Flipper Bend fire and other large fires in that area. Two other IMTs are overseeing and supporting firefighting efforts from posts in Cookeville and Knoxville.
Officials said the Florida team is highly trained to manage state and federal resources for firefighting. Their involvement will enable Tennessee’s staff to increase focus on other active fires that need support. Personnel from Florida include eight members to provide management and logistical aid, one division supervisor to help with fire management and crew communications and three, 20-person federal hand crews.
“In a situation like this, everyone gets involved,” State Forester Jere Jeter said. “The TDA forestry staff and skilled firefighters are working long hours in remote areas, coping with dangerous circumstances and tough terrain. We are grateful for their efforts to protect our state, and the assistance from the Florida team who have joined the front lines to help.”
Agriculture Commissioner Jai Templeton has declared open-air burning bans for six Tennessee counties: Claiborne, Jefferson, Loudon, Monroe, Robertson and Sevier. County burn bans must be requested from the county mayor. Violation of a Commissioner-declared ban is a Class A misdemeanor which carries a fine of $2,500 and/or jail time.
Counties not listed under the ban require a safe debris burning permit. Permits are not expected to be issued until substantial precipitation is received.
Burn bans, additional fire safety tips and wildfire information can be found on the TDA Division of Forestry’s wildfire prevention website at www.burnsafetn.org.