GSM Wild Fire Report: Laurel Falls: Contained - Stony Ridge: Almost there

Thanks to rain and cooler spring weather in the Great Smoky Mountains national park, the Laurel Falls Wildfire has been contained a day earlier than predicted and the Stony Ridge wild fire should be contained shortly.

As of last night all the hiking trails closed by the Laurel Falls Wildfire in the Great Smoky Mountains national park have reopened.

Because of the Wears Cove wildfire, The Little Roundtop Hiking Trails off Wears Cove Road and ends at the Townsend Wye remains closed at this time.

The closed section of the Blue Ridge Parkway from US 441 to US 19 has been reopened and the command of the Stony Ridge Wildfire will be assumed by the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians tomorrow and is expected to be completely contained by Monday.

Laurel Falls and Stony Ridge wildfires in the Great Smoky Mountsins national park update

Time and rain have been huge helps in the battling the 2 wildfires burning in the Great Smoky Mountains national park.

Presently the Laurel Falls fire which is East of Elkmont and West of the Sugarlands TN is still burning but is more than 75% contained.

As long as conditions keep improving as they have the past 2 hours we may see the following closed hiking trails reopen as soon as late this afternoon:

• Cove Mountain Hiking Trail
• Laurel Falls Hiking Trail
• Little Brier Gap
• Little Roundtop Hiking Trail
• Little Greenbrier Hiking Trail
• Metcalf Bottoms Hiking Trail

At this point 267 acres have been burned by the Laurel Falls wild fire and no structural damage or specimen old growth trees have been damaged.

The Stony Ridge Wildfire has already consumed 1,557 acres and is now 60% contained.

The only pubic access areas closed is a section of the Bluer Ridge parkway from Soco Road - US 19 to Newfound Gap Road - US 441 just a short distance north of the entrance to the Great Smoky Mountains national park in Cherokee North Carolina.

Blue Ridge Parkway Closure because of the Stony Ridge wildfire to last until at least Saturday

The Northernmost section of the Blue Ridge Parkway from the Soco Road (US19) to the Great Smoky Mountains national parks main thoroughfare Newfound Gap Road (US 441) has been closed for the past 2 days due to the Stony Ridge wildfire near Cherokee North Carolina.

Fire officials believe enough of the wildfire is under control that they will be able to open the Blue Ridge Parkway some time this weekend.

Laurel Falls TN and Stony Ridge NC Wild Fires still burning in the Great Smoky Mountains national park

The national park service released management of the 2 wildfires still burning in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park to an Interagency Incident Management Team. This team specializes in directing and providing logistical support to large incidents, especially fires.

Currently the Laurel Falls fire which was started by an illegal campfire has affected more than 250 acres and has shut down the extremely popular Laurel Falls hiking trail is only 25% contained despite days of intense firefighting efforts by almost 90 firefighters with air support. At this time the rare old growth forest behind Laurel Falls are not in danger.

Plenty of fuel for this wildfire was and still is available as a prescribed burn has not been done in this area for a very long time. This section of the park really did need the natural cleaning of fire to help increase the biodiversity. Firefighters are burning areas in front of the wildfire right now to reduce its fuel.

Expect the Laurel Falls hiking trail to be closed for some time even after the fire is out to be sure there are no hot spots are hanging trees that could fall onto visitors.

Since fire personnel are tied up fighting this fire it will take days for the Roundtop Trail to be reopened because crews need to examine the trail and surrounding area before it can be deemed safe.

The Stony Ridge Wildfire in the Great Smoky Mountains national park was started by a downed power line and has already scorched at least 1,200 acres in the Cherokee North Carolina area and has shut down the northern most section of the Blue Ridge Parkway between US 19 - Soco Road and US 441 Newfound Gap Road in the Great Smoky Mountains national park. US 441 Newfound Gap Road is not impacted at all other than occasional smoke.

More than 150 firefighters are working on the Stony Ridge Wildfire with the use of air support and at this time it is halfway contained. The western perimeter at this time is secured and crews are battling to secure the eastern perimeter by the Blue Ridge Parkway.

The cool damp weather from last night and now today has been some help and we can only hope that we get more rain though the forecasts are saying there is only a 30% chance of rain today.