Smoke billowed from high atop Renegade Mountain Wednesday morning as a wildfire sparked an hours-long fight in challenging terrain and weather conditions.
Firefighters emerged from the woodline shortly after nightfall. The fire was contained.
“We won’t know how many acres until the smoke gets cleared,” Cumberland County Fire Chief Trevor Kerley said. He estimated several hundred acres impacted from the wildfire. “Forestry will be back up there today to make sure the lines hold.”
Fire lines help to contain wildfires by breaking the fuel supply — wood, leaves or other items that can feed a fire as it moves through woods.
Chris Cox, assistant Cumberland County Emergency Management Agency, said Wednesday night the fire would continue to burn for several days within the contained area.
No injuries were reported, but the Chronicle learned at least one family lost their year-round home when their condo was destroyed in the blaze. The fire consumed two buildings the housed 12 condo units.
“The initial call was for a woods fire, but I got a personal call just after that a building was involved,” Kerley said. “When we got there, one building was already lost.”
Jill Barnes posted to Facebook, “Well, our little condo is on fire. Please pray for everyone that lives up there and the firefighters.”
Barnes and her husband, Patrick, had opened the condo as a vacation rental Oct. 23 to be enjoyed by Verb and Airbnb guests.
“We are fine,” Barnes said of her and her family. “We used it as an AirBnB, and our guest was not up there so we are just thankful for that. However, there are a lot of people that live full-time in those condos that we feel for.”
The fire was first reported around 9:45 a.m. Wednesday. Firefighters with Cumberland Fire Department arrived to Moytoy Rd. off Renegade Parkway to find a brush fire estimated at 15 acres and two multi-family condominium buildings on fire. Drought conditions and dead leaves and plant matter caused the fire to quickly accelerate into the woods on the north side of the mountain.
Kerley said the fire came from the woods, but its source isn’t known.
John Moore, president of the Renegade Mountain Community Club, said it was a “perfect storm,” with dry conditions and a wind from the northeast.
“There was a fire down the mountain and it just took it right up,” he said.
Both condo buildings are a “total loss,” he said, and two maintenance storage buildings were also destroyed. But the action of firefighters kept the fire from spreading. At one time, two other condo buildings were threatened by the fire.
“We’re grateful,” Moore said. “It could have been far worse.”
County firefighters called for mutual aid from the Tennessee Division of Forestry and Crossville Fire Department.
The blaze threatened other structures in the area and residents were asked to evacuate. Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office, Cumberland County Emergency Medical Services, Cumberland County Emergency Management Agency and the Cumberland County Rescue Squad responded to help alert and evacuate residents of the mountaintop community.
As they worked, the fire continued to spread.
“With the terrain, it’s difficult to get that under control,” said Cox said Wednesday. Wind gusts and low humidity are adding to the difficulty of fighting the fire. It was not considered contained.
Cox said fire fighters were using a lot of water, with both hydrant operations and water shuttling taking place. Forestry brought heavy equipment to help contain the fire.
Shortly after noon, the crews attempted to make a fire break line, hoping to contain the spread of the fire. That was unsuccessful, however, and the fire spread toward Godsey Rd. and the Godsey Knob area near Crab Orchard.
Residents in that area were also asked to evacuate.
Crab Orchard Christian Church and Crab Orchard City Hall were opened as places of refuge for those rousted from their homes by the threatening and spreading blaze. The shelters were later combined into one shelter at the church located at the base of the mountain. The Crab Orchard Church of God of Prophecy offered up hot meals for people evacuated from their homes and emergency workers.
“Everybody just jumped in,” said Moore. “We are lucky to live on this Plateau.”
One couple escaped from their condo with only their clothes and a pet dog. After a brief stay at the church, the couple traveled to Algood to stay with a family member.
Kerley estimated about 40 emergency personnel were on the scene Wednesday.
“We were able to maintain our water with tankers and water on site,” Kerley said.
The fire department issued a call of thanks to the businesses and agencies that supported the effort to save lives and property. Food was delivered to emergency workers, with thanks to Chick-Fil-A, Firehouse Subs, Rural King, Taco Bell, McDonald’s, Crab Orchard Christian Church, ServPro and others who provided food and drinks for the firefighters.
The Fairfield Glade Volunteer Fire Department was on standby to assist with calls while the county and city personnel were on Renegade, as well.
“Everyone went above and beyond the call of duty,” reads a Facebook post on the Cumberland County Fire and Rescue page.
Emergency personnel opened the area back up for residents shortly after 7 p.m. Wednesday.
While the Renegade fire continues to smolder, Cumberland County 911 continued to field calls of fires around the county.
The fire department reminds everyone that dry conditions make it dangerous to burn leaves or debris at this time. Burn permits are required from Oct. 15-May 15, but dry conditions mean permits may not be issued during hazardous fire weather.
Crossville Meteorologist Mark Baldwin does have rain in his five-day forecast, with a 70% chance of showers and isolated storms Friday and 50% chance of scattered showers on Monday. Friday may only bring .25 inch to .5 inch of rain.
Cumberland County is currently at .32 inch of rain for November and 44.95 inches for the year — down 4.5 inches from average rainfall. Most of the county is considered to be in “extreme drought,” according to the most recent U.S. Drought Monitor, updated Nov. 16.
Chronicle staff Heather Mullinix, Michael R. Moser and Rebekah Beeler contributed to this report.