By Michael V. Hannigan
I received multiple questions about smoke around Henderson County today, so I contacted the Henderson County Fire Marshal’s Office. According to the Fire Marshal, there were a couple of factors leading to the smoke.
First, there was a controlled burn south of Athens. That burn is scheduled to continue, so it is likely that Athens area residents will see more smoke through the week.
There were also several grass fires throughout the county today, including one in Malakoff which required seven fire departments before it was extinguished.
The Fire Marshal said that dry grass and wind “is causing major problems with fires right now.”
Henderson County is NOT currently under a burn ban, but please be careful if you do burn. Also, don’t flick cigarettes out of a moving vehicle. Please do what you can to help.