30 Major Fires In 6 SE States; 128,000 Acres Burned So Far; Windy Weekend Ahead

[hatrack]

HELENA) Firefighters from across Montana are assisting with devastating fires across the southeast. Fire crews are battling blazes in six states from Georgia to North Carolina and east to Tennessee and Kentucky.

Upwards of 30 major fires have burned some 128,000 acres.

More than 5,000 firefighters and support personnel, including many veterans of wildfires in the West, have been ordered east to assist.

There are currently nine firefighters from the Helena dispatch center helping, including four from the DNRC.

EDIT

http://www.ktvh.com/2016/11/30-major-fires-burning-6-southeastern-states-montana-firefighters-assist

Saturday morning the air smelled relatively fresh-scrubbed of smoke thanks to the rain that swept through the area. But that was deceptive. There is still an air quality alert and the rain had almost no impact on the wildfires besieging East Tennessee, according to firefighters. Now, gusty winds pose a challenge for those trying to contain the flames.

EDIT

"We're here as part of a compact, an agreement between the Southeastern states," Frazier explained. "North Florida is fairly dry so fire could be a problem at some point. But Central Florida doesn't have problems with drought conditions so our departments were able to loan us to Tennessee."

The National Weather Service posted a special "Fire Weather Planning Forecast" predicting a dry, cold weekend with very gusty winds today. The Jefferson National Forest's southwest Virginia section, which has also dealt with dry conditions and wildfire, is due for snow tonight. Nothing in the weekend weather looks as if it will be much help to firefighters, according to regional safety officer James Gregory, who is also up from Florida to help fight the Tennessee wildfires. He is a Maryville native who knows East Tennessee parks and wilderness well.

"The ground cover, the layer of twigs and branches and grass and vegetation that normally helps keep trees upright during a fire, is so dry and brittle, it can't hold the trees in place so they fall over," Gregory explained. "When a burning tree falls over, of course that spreads the flames. Even live trees that aren't on fire fall over because the drought has dried out the forest so much."

EDIT

http://www.knoxnews.com/story/news/local/tennessee/2016/11/19/rain-had-little-impact-fires-wind-now-concern/94123552/

[dixiegrrrrl]

1. Speaking of trees falling over

A LOT of trees in the SE, esp. Ala, are still leaning as a result of the 2004 hurricane that hit here so hard.
Lots of tall pines trees in the state, many commercially grown for poles, they contain a lot of pitch.
Fires around here burn hot and fast and travel quickly.