By FireRescue1 Staff
CHURCH HILL, Tenn. — A brush fire broke out Tuesday evening, prompting seven firefighters to send out a mayday call while rescuing a civilian in a mountainous area.
Officials said the fire was reported earlier in the evening and firefighters went into the woods to locate a missing person.
Although the civilian was found, the fire prevented crews from leaving the area. WJHL reported that the firefighters and civilian were in a safe location. It is unclear how the firefighters were trapped and rescued, but officials told the Times News the entire crew was accounted for.
“The fire got between the [firefighters] and a bluff, and there was nowhere to go,” Gary Murrell, Hawkins County Emergency Management Agency Director, said. “They declared a mayday -- and when that happens there’s a certain protocol our dispatch follows. That means send everything you’ve got that way.”
A state forestry division worker sustained a shoulder injury, and another civilian was transported to the hospital for a leg injury.
The firefighters are still working to control and extinguish the fire.
Everyone coming down from the mountain, just as it starts to rain @WJHL11 pic.twitter.com/1OUivr0twr
— Karissa Winstead (@KarissaManis) November 9, 2016
Backpack of one of the first responders who just came back from the woods @WJHL11 pic.twitter.com/MBRYwTBCIT
— Karissa Winstead (@KarissaManis) November 9, 2016