Tennessee Wildfire Risk Relatively Low Through September; October Likely Sees Uptick

Tennessee’s risk for wildfire through the next month despite wildfires in several southern states right now are relatively low.

Cumberland Assistant District Forrester Joel Blackburn said forest conditions do not yet warrant too much worry regarding unexpected forest fires. He said that the rain of the past month, as well as the plentiful shade provided by leaves, helped prevent dry conditions.

“So in Tennessee, we likely won’t see an uptick in fire currents until about October once we start getting leaf fall, you know that adds to the fuel bed on the ground already,” Blackburn said. “Right now we’re in good position, I don’t think we’ve had any fires in the district here for a couple of weeks now.”

Blackburn said that one thing that could lead to an increased risk of forest fires is the growing population of the state. He said that as more people are moving to Tennessee, more people are building houses near the wild and urban interface.

“We’re adding structure, or places of values, right near the edge of the tree line or near the edge of the forest,” Blackburn said. “So think being a state that attracts a lot of people to it and as our population grows it does give us concern. For fire and for people living out in those fringe areas.”

Blackburn said that Tennessee workers have been deployed to assist states like Louisiana until October. The deployment is following the assessments made determining Tennessee’s low likelihood of unexpected fires until October.

In an attempt to continue preventing forest fires, Tennesseans be required to obtain burn permits starting October 15th. The permits will be issued the day citizens wish to conduct a burn, and will only be issued if conditions are determined to be safe.

“We do come up with a fire-weather forecast every single day, so the citizens come and get a permit, they’re getting that permit from someone who has seen the weather, who can express concerns,” Blackburn said. “There may be days we issue permits that’s a good burning day, not necessarily a bad fire day, but does let us communicate.”