Eyewitness reports: Sheepback fire burning in Maggie started from brush fire

Apr. 5—A forest fire sweeping across Sheepback Mountain above Maggie Valley had grown to 50 acres by early Monday evening and forced the evacuation of 17 homes.

More than a dozen fire departments from across Haywood County, along with the N.C. Forest Service, have been battling the blaze since about 2:30 p.m. when it was first reported.

Firefighters on the ground focused efforts on saving homes in the fire's path. Crews soaked down the perimeter of the homes in advance of the fire and then hunkered down as it closed in — hoping the fire would part around the homes as it swept across the mountainside.

"We've got tanker trucks next to all the homes being threatened, and they are individually protecting each home," said Allison Richmond, public information officer for Haywood Emergency Services.

Haywood County Emergency Management officials have not confirmed how the fire started. However, eye witnesses reported seeing a landscaping crew burning brush earlier in the day from the area where the fire originated.

All eyes are now on the weather forecast, with a good rain predicted to roll in Tuesday afternoon.

"We hope the rain that's coming will extinguish it pretty well," Richmond said. "In the meantime, we are doing a good job keeping it away from people's homes."

Firefighters have a long night ahead of them, however. Along with ground crews, firefighting efforts have been aided by robust air support.

"We have two spotter planes circling the fire to monitor its movement, plus a helicopter and two air tankers dropping water," Richmond said. "During the day it is a lot easier for the spotter planes to get a good eye on which direction the fire is moving and where they need to concentrated their efforts."

The helicopter has been scooping up water from Lake Junaluska. The planes have to go to the Asheville Airport to refill, however, Richmond said.

A evacuation notice was sent out via the Haywood County Emergency Text alert system shortly after the fire broke out. Responders followed up by going door-to-door to make sure residents had evacuated.

Road blocks were set up along Sheepback Mountain Road to keep people out of the affected area, though some were being let in to homes lower down the mountain to retrieve pets and shuttle vehicles out of harm's way.

Maggie Valley Fire Department is the lead agency coordinating the response. Along with numerous fire departments from across Haywood County, additional firefighters from the National Park Service and the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians were expected to join the crews on the ground by nightfall, given the fire's proximity to the Blue Ridge Parkway and Cherokee tribal land.

How it started

The fire originated along Pless Underwood Road, located at the far end of Maggie Valley about a mile past the Ghost Town parking lot.

According to eye witnesses, the fire originated from a controlled brush fire by a landscaping crew that had been doing some clearing.

"Around 11 o'clock, they started burning brush and trees on the property just below my cabin," said Tom Kassem, who lives along Pless Underwood Road. "They said they dug a big hole and were being very careful, and it wasn't windy, so I don't know how it got out of hand."

Kassem then left for a while, but his housemate Saad Ghanem was still home when the fire enveloped him.

"All the way around the cabin was fire and smoke," said Ghanem, who speaks limited English. "Too much scared. I grabbed my dog and run down the mountain as fast as I could."

Ghanem had been cooking around 2:30 p.m., and when he went to turn on the kitchen faucet, no water came out. He went outside and find thick smoke everywhere.

"The fire had burned through the wires on the well, that's why there was no water," Kassem said.

Ghanem tried to run down the driveway toward the road, but the fire was blocking his way. So he took off down the steep mountainside through the woods with his dog in his arms.

He fell as he was running, scratching up his back and injuring his shoulder in the process. Ghanem made his way to a nearby home, where an ambulance came and picked him up.

Kassem hadn't been able to get back to his house yet, but could see it from the base of the mountain and was thankful it was still standing.

Kassem said he doesn't blame the landscaping crew that had been burning the brush.

"They told me they weren't trying to hurt anybody, that it wasn't intentional. I said 'It's OK, everybody makes mistakes,'" Kassem said.