Fire On Side Of Lookout Mountain Causes Brief Evacuation; Incline Temporarily Closed As Track Burns

  • Saturday, December 7, 2024

A woodlands fire broke out Saturday morning on the side of Lookout Mountain and eventually reached the Incline Railway track and caused numerous evacuations near that vicinity in St. Elmo.

The Incline track could be seen with heavy flames above the halfway point on Saturday night. The Incline is owned and operated by CARTA, and is one of its key revenue sources.

CARTA officials on Saturday night said the Incline "is temporarily closed due to an ongoing active fire incident.

We are fully cooperating with emergency response teams who are currently managing the situation. The safety of our guests and staff remains our highest priority.

"We will conduct a thorough assessment once emergency personnel have secured the site and will provide updates regarding service restoration when appropriate."

State, local and federal agencies continued on Saturday night working to tackle the brush fire.

Fire officials said at 7:28 p.m., "There is a fire break around the entire impacted area. The only fire that crews are having to deal with is the railroad ties from the incline which is in areas that are very challenging to reach. Firefighters are holding the line and making sure everything is protected. There are multiple people on 'fire watch' throughout the night at various locations of the rail."

At 6:46 a.m., Chattanooga Fire companies were dispatched to the 700 block of S. Scenic Highway after 911 received several calls about a fire in the woods. Access to the area that was burning was challenging for firefighters so brush trucks and UTVs were used by emergency personnel.

The U.S. Forest Service, Tennessee Forestry, CFD, Lookout Mountain FD, CPD and Hamilton County EMS were all on the call throughout the day. Drones were used to show the scope of the fire and firefighters worked together using different trails to extinguish it. A helicopter dropped water on the fire as part of the extinguishment efforts.

The helicopter came from Asheville, N.C., and loaded up on water from the river before dumping it on the Incline tracks.

In the morning, the CFD turned the incident over to the National Park Service and Tennessee Department of Agriculture Division of Forestry. By the afternoon, the fire made its way to the Incline tracks. Evacuations got underway around the lower Incline station as a safety precaution, including multiple businesses and residences.

Approximately 20 homes on Old Mountain Road and W. 40th Street were evacuated.

By 5 p.m., all evacuations were lifted and St. Elmo reopened after Incline Railway maintenance personnel secured their rail cars.

The National Park Service and Tennessee Department of Agriculture Division of Forestry were still working to extinguish the fire on the mountain with the help of the CFD and others.

Click here for video by John Walker Jones of a helicopter dumping water on the woodlands fire.

Click here for video by John Walker Jones of firefighters dousing fire on Incline track.

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