Homes, lives spared in fire that raged across Sheepback Mountain
Apr. 5—MAGGIE VALLEY — A fire on Sheepback Mountain above Maggie Valley that originated from a brush fire Monday afternoon raged through the night and into Tuesday — threatening homes, forcing dozens of evacuations and consuming more than 300 acres before finally being quelled by rain.
Firefighters on the ground mobilized quickly when the fire broke out with a concerted strategy to save homes in the fire's path. Crews soaked down the perimeter of homes in advance of the fire and then hunkered down as it closed in, hoping it would sweep around them as it continued its march across the mountainside.
"We've got tanker trucks next to all the homes being threatened, and they are individually protecting each home," Allison Richmond, public information officer for Haywood Emergency Services, said Monday evening. "We hope the rain that's coming will extinguish it pretty well. In the meantime, we are doing a good job keeping it away from people's homes."
Fire departments from across Haywood County and beyond battled the blaze through the night, along with support from the N.C. Forest Service, National Park Service and the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians.
"Crews are working around the clock. They are coming in from all over Western North Carolina lending a hand," said Christina Esmay, public information officer for the Haywood County Sheriff's Office.
Brenda Mancuso, who lives on Sheepback Mountain, was grateful to the crews who put themselves in harm's way to stop the fire.
"It was a rough night. I didn't sleep at all," said Mancuso, who stayed with a friend after having to evacuate her RV. "I just kept reminding myself no matter what happens to me I am on God's plan, and I don't have control over it. You just have to trust in God. So that's what I did."
Tuesday morning, emergency officials allowed Mancuso to return to her property and see how it had fared. Speaking by phone as she pulled up to her RV, she broke into tears upon finding it had been spared.
"If I had lost everything, it would have been catastrophic. I think it would have broken me," she said.
She had to evacuate so quickly Monday, she only had time to grab her two cats and her dog.
"I kind of just froze. I couldn't think of what to bring," said Mancuso.
Evacuations
An 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.
Mark Jones, who lives on Sheepback Mountain Road, returned home from work Monday afternoon to find the road leading to his home barricaded and the mountainside billowing with smoke and flames.
"They wouldn't let me get up the hill at first, but when I told them I had pets to go after, they drove me up in a utility vehicle," Jones said.
Jones was put at ease upon seeing a fire tanker truck stationed in his driveway to guard the house should the flames encroach.
"I said, 'Do I have a minute or two to grab some other things?'" Jones recalled.
But as he tore through his house, he found himself at a loss.
"You always think about what you need to have in case you ever have to evacuate, but when it happens, your mind kind of goes blank," Jones said. "We were mostly just worried about the babies."
So he got his dog Bailey, a rat terrier, and his ball python, Buttercup.
"When I told the fire chief at the bottom of the hill I had a python, he joked 'I was going to help you out until you told me that,'" Jones said.
Jones and his wife spent the night at a hotel in Maggie Valley. But he couldn't sleep. So around 1:30 a.m., he got in his car and drove up Soco Road to the observation tower to look down on the fire. By day, thick smoke mostly obscured the flames, but by night, the mountainside was awash in an eerie orange glow.
As firefighters battled the Sheepback Mountain fire on Monday afternoon, a smaller and unrelated fire broke out on the other side of Soco Road up Setzer Cove. Leilani Hutchinson had been watching the smoke when her phone dinged. It was a Haywood County Emergency text alert with another evacuation notice — this time for her area.
"It told us to leave immediately," she said. "I got my dogs and our medicine, and that's about it."
How the fire started
Haywood County emergency officials had not publicly confirmed how the fire yet started as of Tuesday. But according to eyewitnesses, 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 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 so fast."
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, leaping and jumping 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.
The fire moved quickly once it got out of control. By dusk, it had already burned 75 acres.
Kassem said he doesn't blame the landscaping crew that had been burning the brush. The crew was in their truck at the mobile command center set up at the base of the mountain Monday evening to coordinate the response.
"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.
Quelling the flames
Along with ground response, firefighting efforts were 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, speaking Monday from the mobile command center. "The spotter planes keep an eye on which direction the fire is moving and where they need to concentrate their efforts."
The helicopter made a continuous circuit between Maggie Valley and Lake Junaluska, where it scooped up water to carry back to the fire. The tanker planes had to go to the Asheville Airport to refill, however, Richmond said.
The fire had burned 75 acres by the time dusk fell Monday night. It had grown to 200 acres by 10 a.m. Tuesday morning, with the fire only 30% contained. WIthin an hour of rain moving in Tuesday afternoon, the fire was 100% contained.
Community pitched in
An outpouring of community support was provided to firefighters and first responders, Esmay said.
Local churches showed up at the mobile command center with a steady stream of donuts, hot coffee, snacks and food to keep the crews fed. Victory Baptist Church offered its parking lot for the mobile command center and opened bathrooms to the crews.
Maggie Valley Fire Department was the lead agency for the fire response, though aid came in from every fire department in the county. Two fire departments from Jackson County — Savannah and Balsam-Willetts — brought crews and trucks to staff the Maggie Valley Fire Station and respond to any other calls that came in since local firefighters were occupied with the forest fire.
A shelter and reunification center was set up at Calvary Baptist Church Monday afternoon.
"We are serving as a staging area to help folks that may have been displaced or are looking for loved ones who evacuated," said Teresa Allison with Haywood County Health and Human Services. "Anybody that needs a place to stay in the interim while they are putting out the fire is welcome to come here and help with whatever their needs may be."
Pull-offs along Soco Road leading up to the Blue Ridge Parkway were crowded with people Monday who watched in shock from the vantage point overlooking the valley. Maggie Valley Alderwoman Tammy Wight was among them.
"My prayers are with the families and firefighters and first responders. I just hope everybody's safe," Wight said.
