The Great Smoky Mountain Journal

Staff, Wire Reports

Posted: Sunday, January 21, 2018 07:23 PM

One Year After Walland Wildfires, Scars Remain

It's been one year since a wildfire tore through the Walland area. The scars are still visible along the mountains in Blount County. It's still unknown how it started.

"This is probably the biggest mountain fire I've had since I've been here."

That's what one Blount County firefighter, Chris McLemore, had to say about the wildfire in Walland.

The fire burned over 1,500 acres of land.

It's been one year since the fire tore through the area. McLemore was first on the scene. His post at Station 5 only sat only a mile and a half from the fire's source, only a few hundreds yards behind Walland Elementary School. The school had to remain closed until after Thanksgiving.

"The conditions that time of year, you remember it was pretty dry," McLemore said. "So anything that sparked off a fire was going to take off quickly and by teh time I got there, it had grown in size considerably. And it was just out of control and there was nothing we could do."

The fire continued growing for days. It crawled up Chilhowee Mountain, feeding off the dead leaves lining the forest floor.

"The amount of fuel that it had, it was just extremely dry that year," McLemore said.

The terrain was not merciful and didn't make fighting the fire any easier. The blaze spread across the mountain's side.

"It's just funny the way it traveled sometimes. The whole middle was burned out, but it had the two ends on it," he said.

Firefighters kept the flames away from homes and cell tower in the area. The U.S. Forest Service dug fire lines, and the Army National Guard assisted from the air.

McLemore said he's thankful East Tennessee saw more rainfall for 2017 than it had last year. Even a year later, firefighters still don't know what may have started the fire.