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Forest fires in TN, GA, NC, and SC

N941WR

N941WR

Legacy Member
Anyone flying in or through Eastern Tennessee, Northeast Georgia, Western North Carolina, or the Upstate of South Carolina should check the TFRs and avoid the them.

There are many large forest fires in the area due to the extremely dry conditions and wind the fires are still growing and are not contained at this point. Visibility is down and the smell of smoke is in the air, even miles from the fires.
 
I did a 20 minute repositioning flight from KLZU to KPDK yesterday on a clear day in the Atlanta area and visibility at 1500 ft agl was about 2 miles with all the smoke!
 
morganjp said:
I did a 20 minute repositioning flight from KLZU to KPDK yesterday on a clear day in the Atlanta area and visibility at 1500 ft agl was about 2 miles with all the smoke!
Click to expand...

I just took off out SC86 (just west of Greenville Downtown), circled to 12K, took some pictures, and circled back down and laded.

Between 3,500 and 4,500 feet you could hardly breath. The smoke topped out at 5,500' and was clear above.

Now to find a new place to load pictures so I can post them.
 
morganjp said:
I did a 20 minute repositioning flight from KLZU to KPDK yesterday on a clear day in the Atlanta area and visibility at 1500 ft agl was about 2 miles with all the smoke!
Click to expand...

KPDK was IFR briefly yesterday due to the smoke.

For those of you who are unfamiliar, KPDK is Atlanta's "sort-of" downtown airport - probably 5 miles Northeast of the downtown area.

The fires are almost 100 miles due North of Atlanta, along the TN and NC border.
 
Both pictures were taken today at 12 noon Eastern time from 12,000' over SC86.

Here is a picture looking north towards Asheville, NC from just west of Greenville, SC. That fire is at Lake Lure, NC.

30884055046_6bbf0ff279_k.jpg


This picture is looking north-northwest and the smoke is blowing over Pickens county, SC. (Just west of Greenville, SC)
30832368521_f3782e2be1_k.jpg
 
I live in the Chattanooga area. The fires are growing surprisingly fast. We are under a severe drought in this area, and I haven't seen any rain in nearly 2 months or longer. My wife was recently suck on I-75 trying to get to work, there was a pretty large brush fire where I-75 cuts through White Oak mountain and the poor overworked firefighters were having a tough time containing it due to the very steep hills.

All the local airports (KRZR, KDNN, KMMI, etc) are housing all the firefighting aircraft and serving as a makeshift base for the teams. I have seen a bunch of water tanker (helicopters and fixed wing) flying around in this area. The TFR's in the area are changing and moving as the fires come and go. Right now they are having a tough time fighting them because when they think they have it out, the embers will have spread to some other section, and blaze.

My parents live east of me out in Polk county, at the foot of Chilhowee mountains and they were telling me that sometimes the smoke is so thick, its hard to even drive around.

Stay safe!
 
The volunteer fire folks that service the area my parents live in have some photos on their facebook page of the recent fires.

https://www.facebook.com/West-Polk-...e-376585772250/?hc_ref=PAGES_TIMELINE&fref=nf

Two more brush fires sprung up tonight about 3 miles away from where they live. I drove out to visit them tonight, and the smoke and particulate in the air was making it rough to breathe, not to mention hard to see at night with my headlights on the way home.

Earlier today, I was in downtown chattanooga and the visibility was so low you couldn't make out the mountains that surround the city.
 
We are getting some light rain here this morning. With luck, that will help dampen the fires.

This picture was taken yesterday afternoon off the end of runway.

30655894510_0bb82828ec_k.jpg
 
Smoke

Went flying Friday and the smoke extended south of Callaway Gardens, Ga. Winds were out of the north pushing it that far south.
 
Smoke at Asheville

I took this an hour ago at Asheville looking South. There really are mountains out there:

V4Jl5B.jpg
 
Leaving Chattanooga this morning at 7000'. Approach in was calling 1 1/4, OVC 100, however it was not a true overcast.

4C59AFCE-C99E-4B99-9B8C-CC54529F07CA.jpg
 
Yesterday evening, Asheville was probably 1 mile in smoke and when I got by the airport exit on 26, it had cleared up a bit and the AWOS was calling 2 miles.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed for Thanksgiving morning. I'm supposed to drop the mini-me off at Grandma's outside of Chattanooga (KFGU) in the morning.

With luck we will get some rain tonight! Heck, I would even forgo the trip in the morning for a good rain!

Snopercod, we should get together sometime. I doubt your plane (Lancair?) can get into SC86, maybe GMU.
 
Sure, I'd love to meet you and see your plane. SC86 would be a little dicey, but either LQK or GMU would be fine. We're getting a tiny bit of rain where I live; It's not much but I'm glad to have it.
 
snopercod said:
Sure, I'd love to meet you and see your plane. SC86 would be a little dicey, but either LQK or GMU would be fine. We're getting a tiny bit of rain where I live; It's not much but I'm glad to have it.
Click to expand...

Let's plan on GMU for lunch. Just not today, I am heading to Chattanooga, depending on the weather. This is one time I won't mind being rained out. We couldn't sleep last night because the smoke plugged our noses and clogged our noses and made breathing difficult. I can't wait until these fires are out!

One reason I like the RV's and the -9 in particular is that as long as the airport symbol doesn't have an "H" in the middle of it, I can land there.

Check your PM's.
 
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