Local firefighters help battle blaze on Buffalo Mountain

Published 3:26 pm Tuesday, March 29, 2022

The forest fire that has been burning on Buffalo Mountain since last week has been 75% contained as of Monday evening, according to Forestry Technician with the Tennessee Division of Forestry James Heaton.

Heaton said Monday that the fire is still burning within firefighters’ containment lines and that they are working to clear pockets of unburnt fuel and dead, standing trees.

“We’re just working those areas, making sure that we have a good solid containment line around the fire, and right now we have a dozer line and hand line in place. We’re not at 100% containment,” Heaton said.

“Currently, we are not overly concerned about any potential threat to structures or residences in the area, though there were points on Sunday where the fire was threatening structures near Bill Garland Road,” Heaton said.

Billy Harrell, director of the Carter County Emergency Management Agency, said at the fire’s peak, firefighters from four fire departments were on the scene. Those departments included members of the Johnson City Fire Department, members of the West Carter County Volunteer Fire Department, members of the Unicoi Volunteer Fire Department and members of the Central Volunteer Fire Department.

Heaton described the fire as one of the largest that Johnson City has seen in about a decade.

To view the state’s interactive wildfire map, visit https://www.tn.gov/tnwildlandfire/suppression/current-wildfires.html

More updates will be provided on the wildfire as it is released.