Date: April 29, 2009
Contact: Bob Miller, (865) 436-1207
A total of almost 40 firefighters at Great Smoky Mountains National Park are working today to contain the Laurel Falls II Fire, which is located along the Park’s Little River Road about 5 miles west of the Park’s Sugarlands Visitor Center.
The fire grew gradually on Tuesday from100 acres in the morning to an estimated 165 acres at day’s end. Nearly all of the expansion was to the south deeper into the Park, rather than north towards the Park boundary, because air tankers dumped over 10,000 gallons of water or retardant along the fire’s north flank over the course of the day.
Firefighters from the Park have been reinforced today by the 20-person Ft. Apache #13 Crew based in Arizona. Today firefighters will be starting on hand-constructed fire lines, which will eventually halt the fire’s further spread. Fire managers also have a small helicopter and an air tanker available should they be needed.
Another wildfire located near Cherokee North Carolina is partly within the boundaries of the National Park, and is being managed jointly with the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Information about this fire, dubbed the "Stony Ridge Fire" is available by contacting Mollie Grant at Cherokee Emergency Services at (828) 554-6156.
A second group of firefighters are assigned today to monitor a flare-up inside the Wear Cove prescribed burn to ensure that it remains inside its defined boundaries and away from private structures outside the Park.
The Park’s popular Laurel Falls Trail remains closed today along with the Roundtop, Little Greenbrier, Little Brier Gap and Cove Mountain Trails.
