East Tennesseans once again woke to a dense cover of smoke Monday morning as forest fires continue throughout the area. The National Weather Service in Morristown said the situation is not expected to change soon.
"Unfortunately, conditions aren't expected to change today," said Elyse Hagner, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Morristown. "We could get a little directional wind in the evening that could help a little with that. Tomorrow, winds could pick up a little more - not significantly but enough that it might stir up the smoke a little more and clear things."
Rain was not in the forecast Monday, which means no help for the hundreds of firefighters, some from as far as Idaho and Florida, who are helping to fight blazes from Chattanooga to Kingsport in Tennessee as well as Georgia, North Carolina and Kentucky. “It looks pretty dry this upcoming week," Hagner said. "It does look like Friday or Saturday there will be a cold front moving through, but it doesn’t look like rain associated with it at this point."
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East Tennessee Children's Hospital has noticed increased visits to the emergency room by children with respiratory problems. We are seeing quite a few children with respiratory problems," said Erica Estep, hospital spokeswoman. "Quite a few with asthma are coming in that personnel in ER believe is coming from the smoke that is exacerbating symptoms."
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RALEIGH, N.C. - Governor Pat McCrory said Monday that the safety of first responders, citizens and structures remains the state's number one goal as nearly 1,600 firefighters continue to battle wildfires throughout western North Carolina.
Nearly 40,000 acres have been burned in the state by 19 significant fires since Oct. 23. The governor announced that the estimated cost of the fires is more than $10 million.
"We have California wildfires in North Carolina and they continue to cause serious challenges for our firefighter community, for towns throughout western North Carolina, and they continue to use a lot of resources and impact our environment," said McCrory. "We are working together as a team among mayors, county commissioners, state officials, the federal government and firefighters to address our priorities of containing these fires and protecting the safety of our first responders, citizens and structures."
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Officials said Saturday that the wildfire at Party Rock near Lake Lure has caused a mandatory evacuation in Henderson County along Highway 64/74-A from Henderson County Line to Highway 9, Highway 9 to Shumont Road and all Henderson County homes located on Shumont Road. The fire has also forced the immediate closing of U.S. 64/74A and N.C. 9 in Rutherford County. A statement from the N.C. Department of Transportation on Friday said a seven-mile stretch of road between the intersection of N.C. 9 and U.S. 64/74A, which lead to the lake and Chimney Rock State Park, will be closed to all traffic except emergency personnel until officials deem the area safe for residents and visitors.
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