East Tennessee Fire Forces Evacuations In Sevier County: Officials

SEVIER COUNTY, TN — A wildfire in East Tennessee has forced evacuations in a large swath of Sevier County north and west of Gatlinburg as officials work to contain the blaze.

Evacuations have been called for an area that includes Wears Valley as well as areas west of Pigeon Forge and south of Sevierville, according to a map provided by the Sevier County Emergency Management Agency. A previous evacuation call for parts of Gatlinburg has been rescinded.

Shelters for those evacuating their homes are available at Seymour Heights Christian Church, Sevierville Convention Center and the Pigeon Forge Community Center, officials said.

As of 11:39 a.m. Thursday, the Hatcher Mountain/Indigo Lane fire was affecting 3,700 acres and was just 5 percent contained, according to the Tennessee Department of Agriculture. The fire is burning on steep terrain in the area of the Smoky Mountains.

The Department of Agriculture has deployed 23 Division of Forestry personnel, five bulldozers, and eight pumpers/engines to help put out the fire and is hoping to drop water on the blaze from eight helicopters later Thursday to protect buildings and cool hot spots.

With rainfall from storms that passed through overnight, firefighters are aiming to temper the fire and aggressively develop a containment line on the west and north flanks with bulldozers, according to authorities.