Sequatchie County Fires – What the Blazes?
Good Friday hasn’t turned out so good for members of the local fire departments as they’ve battled multiple fires in Sequatchie County Tennessee today.
I’ve scoured the websites of the regional news channels but haven’t yet discovered any posted news about the fires. When I have more information, I’ll put up the appropriate links.
April 3rd, 2010 at 7:26 am
Two males, possibly Hispanic, were seen by a local resident exiting a wooded area on Henson Gap Road on a red Japanese motorcycle approximately 7:30PM Friday evening. This resident’s home near Henson Gap Road and East Valley Road has a good view of the mountain in the vicinity of Henson Gap Road. He was relaxing with friends on his deck and noticed smoke from the first fire, apparently shortly after it was lit. Two more fires in the area followed shortly thereafter. This sparked his curiosity, so he decided to investigate. He left his residence and drove up Henson Gap Road. As he was driving up Henson Gap Road he saw two individuals exiting the wooded area on a red Japanese motorcycle near the upper switchback . He immediately realized these two were likely the ones responsible for setting the fires and called 911. When the driver of the motorcycle saw that there was a car coming up the road they sped away. He gave chase up Henson Gap Road, but was unable to catch up to the motorcycle to get the tag number. Near the top of Henson Gap Road he passed a Sequatchie County Sheriff going in the opposite direction, flagged him down and reported the incident. The Sheriff turned around and gave chase, but at this time it is unknown whether or not these individuals were caught.
Approximately 8:00PM my wife and I decided to drive down Hwy 111 from Lewis Chapel to view the fires from the overlook. On our way down we spotted a suspicious acting person on a lime green Japanese motorcycle stopped on the side of Hwy 111 near the top. I had just been informed of the other motorcycle sighting, so I slowed and took a good look at this individual. As I passed them they immediately pulled back onto the highway and followed me down the hill. I slowed down to 35 mph, but they refused to pass me. I found this curious to say the least. I pulled off the highway abruptly, then this person sped past at high speed, estimated in excess of 100 mph. I was able to catch up to them as they exited onto Hwy 127 at the stop sign. The tag on the lime green motorcycle I saw was Tennessee Plate # 9190ZV. This person also appeared to be Hispanic.
These two events may or may not be related. The individual I saw was acting very suspicious. This information was reported to local officials with the fire department.