From The Trussville Tribune Staff Reports
TRUSSVILLE — Many local fire departments are experiencing a higher than usual call volume due to visible smoke in the area.
The Trussville Fire Department has received several calls, and according to interim Fire Chief Tim Shotts, Trussville fire fighters were dispatched to find the source of the smoke, and it was discovered it was coming from another city and drifting into the Trussville area. Many residents have reported seeing the smoke near the Cahaba River, off of Trussville-Clay Road.
The Moody Fire Department posted the following on its Facebook page:
We are currently experiencing a higher than normal call volume due to the smoke that has covered a majority of the city. We understand everyone’s concern and we have searched the city by ground and have not made contact with the origin. Leeds Fire, Trussville Fire, and all other surrounding areas have also been experiencing higher than normal call volumes and have not been able to locate the cause of the smoke. Alabama State Forestry has been made aware of the situation and they advised that they are not currently on any fires in the area at this time. We have requested assistance from Pell City Police Department, and they currently have a helicopter in the area looking for any signs of fire in our city as well as the entire area around us. We will post an update as soon as Air 1 has completed its search.
UPDATE: AIR 1 has finished it’s search and as of now the city and surrounding areas are all clear from any fire. They advised us that the smoke is very heavy the farther they get into Shelby County. If there are any other developments we will let you know.
Outdoor burning is not recommended and could be potentially be very dangerous due to a dry air mass producing low humidity and breezy conditions. The National Weather Service issued two warnings last weekend about counties at risk due to the listed conditions.
Fire Weather Warning Beginning: 2016-10-09T08:56:00 Ending: 2016-10-09T23:00:00 New Alert MARION-LAMAR-FAYETTE-WALKER-BLOUNT-ETOWAH-CALHOUN-CHEROKEECLEBURNE-PICKENS-TUSCALOOSA-JEFFERSON-SHELBY-ST. CLAIR-TALLADEGACLAY-RANDOLPH-SUMTER-GREENE-HALE-PERRY-BIBB-CHILTON-COOSA- 356 AM CDT SUN OCT 9 2016 …RED FLAG WARNING IN EFFECT FROM 11 AM THIS MORNING TO 6 PM CDT THIS EVENING FOR BREEZY AN DRY CONDITIONS FOR A LARGE PART OF CENTRAL ALABAMA… THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BIRMINGHAM HAS ISSUED A RED FLAG WARNING FOR DRY AND BREEZY CONDITIONS…WHICH IS IN EFFECT FROM 11 AM THIS MORNING TO 6 PM CDT THIS EVENING. * WINDS…NORTHEAST 10 TO 15 MPH WITH GUSTS UP TO 25 MPH. * RELATIVE HUMIDITY…AS LOW AS 18 PERCENT. * IMPACTS…A DRY AIRMASS AND WINDY CONDITIONS COMBINED WILL RESULT IN CRITICAL FIRE WEATHER CONDITIONS. OUTDOOR BURNING IS NOT RECOMMENDED. PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS… A RED FLAG WARNING MEANS THAT CRITICAL FIRE WEATHER CONDITIONS ARE EITHER OCCURRING NOW….OR WILL SHORTLY. A COMBINATION OF STRONG WINDS…LOW RELATIVE HUMIDITY…AND WARM TEMPERATURES CAN CONTRIBUTE TO EXTREME FIRE BEHAVIOR