The last week has been busy for emergency personnel.
Many of the calls for Graham County Fire and Rescue personnel could have been prevented, as the calls involved people ignoring the burn ban – despite extreme fire danger and a persistent drought. The calls were scattered throughout the county, including areas of Cochran's Creek, Milltown, Robbinsville and Tallulah.
Arsons
Graham County Fire and Rescue, N.C. Forest Service, and U.S. Forest Service responded to a brush fire on I U Gap Road near the Atoah community April 13. The fire started from a debris burn that escaped on a ridgetop and burned less than an acre of private land.
The same units responded the same day to a brush fire on Hares Creek Road. This fire appeared to have been intentionally set and was put out by a passerby while the fire was still small. The fire was in the same general area of another fire that was discovered weeks ago, which was thought to have also been intentionally set.
Both the county and statewide burn bans remain in effect, despite rainfall across the county over the last week. As of April 16, a total of 30 counties across the state were classified as being under an "extreme" drought by the N.C. Drought Management Advisory Council.
Assistance
Saturday was the busiest so far. Graham County Fire and Rescue and Stecoah Fire and Rescue were both paged around 1 p.m., to rescue an injured hiker on the Appalachian Trail. They were assisted by the U.S. Forest Service and N.C. Forest Service on the mission.
A team of rescuers – including Frank Cline, Dawson Williams, Matthew Blevins, Joseph Orr, Logan Johnson and Jeb Hutchinson – reached the unidentified 64-year-old man around 1:45 p.m., who had suffered a knee injury. The victim was between Locust Cove Gap and Stecoah Gap.
Rescuers transported the injured man via a wheeled stretcher back to Locust Cove Gap and down to a U.S. Forest Service road. From there, he was taken by an ATV to Stecoah Gap and turned over to Graham County EMS at 3:10 P.M. The injured man was transported to Swain County Community Hospital.
There is no update on his condition at press time.
Graham County EMS was swamped with other medical calls most of Saturday, including a woman in labor at the Tallulah dumpsters. On several occasions, all of Graham County ambulances were out on calls – requiring assistance from neighboring counties.
Publisher/editor Kevin Hensley also contributed to this story.