BLOUNT COUNTY, Tenn. — UPDATE 8:30am:
According to Captain Jason Stinnett with Blount County Fire Department, it could take days or even a week to put out a fire north of the McGhee Tyson Airport.
"We got the fire under control yesterday around 7 p.m. or 7:30 p.m.," said Captain Jason Stinnett. "We've stayed with it all night just to make sure it didn't jump our boundaries."
According to Stinnett, about two or three acres of wood is still on fire.
"Some of those logs are so large, its just going to burn for a while," said Captain Stinnett. "It's just holding right there in the center."
Several pieces of equipment and two buildings were damaged at Petree Arbor, Lawn & Landscape. Authorities previously said just one building had suffered damage.
"The challenge is it's just really, really dry," Captain Stinnett said. "When you have that much product stacked up and an ignition source, it goes by pretty quick."
Original Story:
Emergency crews are working to put out hot spots at a fire north of the McGhee Tyson Airport.
Crews had contained the fire Monday night but were still tending to it after it had been burning for hours.
The call came in just before 1 p.m. Monday.
The fire was at Petree Arbor, Lawn & Landscape and officials said it is contained to that property near Airbase Road.
Crews could be seen battling flames engulfing stacks of logs on the property. Blount County officials said they issued voluntary evacuation of some homes in the area as a precaution.
Emergency crews said no one was hurt.
According to Petree Arbor, Lawn & Landscape, a piece of equipment caught on fire at its office, and the company has lost all but three trucks.
One building was a total loss, according to Blount County fire chief Doug McClanahan.
The Blount County Sheriff's Office said the only roads that remain closed near the brush fire at Petree’s Tree Service are Airbase at Callahan and Airbase at Mentor roads. All other roads are re-opened, including Glenn Road and Johnston Road.
Numerous fire departments responded and crews were shuttling in trucks with water.
Officials also stopped train traffic in the area.
Multiple fire departments and the Blount County Sheriff’s Office will remain on the scene for several hours to possibly days as they continue to extinguish and monitor hot spots.
The Blount County Sheriff’s Office will investigate to try and determine the cause and origin of the fire.
