Wednesday fires thrived in windy, dry conditions

Firefighters battled four different fires; brush and structure

CAMPBELL COUNTY, TN (WLAF)- From a 2:08am structure fire at Vasper to a brush/structure fire at 4:49pm along Norris Lake, and two fires between those two, firefighters battled fire, wind and extremely dry conditions on Wednesday.

“Late Wednesday afternoon, on Overlook Lane at Jacksboro, on Norris Lake, is where a brush fire was caused by open burning that got out of control. From there, embers spread to a house catching it on fire,” said CVFD Chief Eddie Hatmaker. There was minor damage. Firefighters with the Caryville Volunteer Fire Department responded with mutual aid from the Jacksboro and La Follette Fire Departments, the Campbell County Rural Fire Service (CCRFS), the Tennessee Forestry Service, Caryville Police and Campbell Sheriff Departments. There were no injuries.

Firefighters with the CCRFS and mutual aid from the Caryville Volunteer Fire Department extinguished a brush fire at Davis Chapel on Wednesday afternoon (1:21pm).

The Davis Chapel scene had no sooner been cleared when another fire call came in to the CCRFS. This fire was on Pleasant Ridge, and the CCRFS responded. There were no injuries nor structure damage associated with the Davis Chapel and Pleasant Ridge blazes.

The day began with a structure fire near Rodney’s Tree Service above Dana Terry Bridge at Vasper.

Firefighters with the Ridgewood Volunteer Fire Department were paged out to a structure fire at 2:08 Wednesday morning.

A building at 1335 Highway 116 was fully involved upon arrival by firefighters. “We were able to suppress the fire quickly and keep surrounding structures safe. No one was injured,” said RVFD Chief Dylan Roach.

Firefighters cleared the scene at Vasper around 5:45am. (WLAF NEWS PUBLISHED-03/26/2026-6AM-PHOTOS SUBMITTED)