KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — UPDATE (Nov. 9, at 4:55 p.m.): The Tennessee Division of Forestry said crews responded to two wildfires on Rockwood Mountain.
On Tuesday night, crews said the first fire was 75 acres large. As of Wednesday afternoon, that fire had grown to 95 acres and was 100% contained. The Tennessee Department of Transportation said there were three planned wildfires that were burning in the area.
TDOT said it closed one lane of I-40 West again at mile marker 343 near Rockwood so crews could respond. Traffic was backed up past exit 347 as of Wednesday afternoon. They also said there would be intermittent lane closures throughout the evening as some equipment is moved around.
They said backups in the area would be expected for the next several hours.
On Wednesday around 2:30 a.m., a second, uncontrolled fire began burning just west of the first fire. Later that afternoon, forestry crews reported the fire to be 90 acres and 75% contained.
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State forestry crews responded to a wildfire atop Rockwood Mountain Wednesday night.
As of 8:30 a.m., forestry crews were monitoring the fire, saying it was not threatening any structures in the area. The Tennessee Division of Forestry said the fire is 200 acres and 25% contained.
Roane County 911 said forestry crews were responding to the fire. TDOT has closed one lane on I-40 West in Roane County because of the fire, causing some traffic jams for roughly a mile along that stretch near Rockwood.
People in nearby Rockwood could see the fire from across I-40, and several people shared photos of it online. Christopher Barger shared several photos like the one below of it burning:
State forestry officials said a few small wildfires have burned in remote sections of East Tennessee in the past few weeks due to the dry conditions and dry ground foliage providing fuel. Most of East Tennessee is either under a moderate drought or is abnormally dry.
Fire crews are urging people to always be cautious and follow rules for burning debris, and to check burn conditions in their local area as well as on BurnSafeTN.org.