On this day in 1939 forest fires raged across western North Carolina, southwest Virginia, northeast Tennessee and eastern Kentucky.
Wind Rock, Tennessee, about 4 and a half miles from Oliver Springs, was one of the places the fires were approaching. According to news reports every available miner in the area was brought to the town to battle the blaze for fear that the fires could not only destroy the town of 500 people but that the fires could reach coal mines in the area.
Near Asheville 1000 men were fighting some 40 fires that threatened the city. As soon as they’d knock out one fire, another one would spring up.
Coal miners, WPA workers and Civilian Conservation Corp members were all enlisted in fighting the wildfires, brought on by a drought that had hit the region for the past seven weeks. Timber, farms, homes and coal mines throughout the area were in danger from the flames, with reports of thousands of acres of timber destroyed from Cumberland Gap to St. Charles, Virginia. Heavy smoke from the fires left ashes falling like snowflakes in St. Charles, according to witnesses, and a Boy Scout helping in the effort was seriously injured when a tree, weakened by the fires, fell on him near Rose Hill.
The drought came to an end days later as rain moved into the area and the wildfires were soon brought under control.
North Carolina estimated nearly $100,000 worth of loss in timber from the fires, while Virginia estimated its losses at more than $25,000, or about $2,342,392 in 2021 dollars for both states.
