Photos & Updates on the fires surrounding Chattanooga this week

CHATTANOOGA (WDEF) We were hoping for some rain on Thursday to help firefighters, but we didn’t get much.

And that should be it for precipitation for the rest of the month, the driest October since we began keeping records here.

Here is a look at some of the wildfires burning around us this week.

Georgia Forestry Photo from the Tower on Lookout Mountain

No relief for high #firedanger either – until we get significant rain. https://t.co/DxTNgN3vpw

— GAForestryCommission (@GaTrees) October 27, 2016

POLK COUNTY, Tennessee (WDEF) Cherokee National Forest officials says the wildfire at Rattlesnake Hollow has burned more than 190 acres since it started on Sunday.

It is on the Southeast side of Chilhowee Mountain.

Today, crews have made progress with burning out and holding control lines, but we’ll probably continue to see smoke on the mountain for several days.

“Very dry conditions and dead leaves falling from trees and rekindling are of concern.”

Trails around the Rock Creek Gorge area remain closed.

Here are the resources still battling the Polk County forest fire:
 1 Helicopter
 1 Air attack aircraft (observation)
 2 Fire engines
 94 Firefighters and support personnel

aleb Thyer
@calebthyer
First time in the Appalachias and get to play with #fire. It’s a beautiful time of year to be here. Holding the fire along a #trail through the #wilderness. #burnbabyburn

Tom Lancaster sent us this photo on Tuesday of wildfires burning on the Sequatchie side of Signal Mountain.

BROOKSIDE, Ala. (AP) – Wildfires are charring hundreds of acres daily in the South amid a worsening drought, and no rain is in sight.

Fires this week have burned acreage in communities around Birmingham, Alabama. Officials say fires also are causing problems in northwest Georgia.

Forestry officials say rain is the answer, but substantial storms aren’t predicted in short-term forecasts.

The latest federal statistics show the entire Southeast is locked in a severe drought, and forecasters say no substantial rainfall is predicted.

Wildfires have burned more than 12,000 acres statewide in Alabama in the last 30 days.

Authorities suspect simple carelessness caused some of the blazes, while others could be arson.

The state has banned outdoor fires across a wide area of the state, and Georgia has stopped issuing burn permits in some counties.

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