Helpful nudists join firefighters battling ‘all hands on deck’ blaze in Tennessee
A handful of nudists and a 55-year-old firetruck are credited with helping stop a brush fire in rural Tennessee this week, media outlets report.
The fire burned through 10 acres Wednesday and endangered an existing structure and another under construction before it was quelled by firefighters and nudists from neighboring Rock Haven Lodge, according to Rutherford County Fire and Rescue.
“Yesterday’s brush fire was certainly an ‘all hands on deck’ situation!” the fire department said in a Facebook post alongside an article outlining Rock Haven’s helpfulness.
The cause is still under investigation, but fire and rescue crews said wind shifted the blaze’s direction several times as they worked to control it.
“We are so thankful we were in the position to help our neighbors!” Rock Haven posted on Facebook afterward.
The people from the nudist park were clothed while fighting the fire, Susan Palmer, owner of Rock Haven Lodge, told McClatchy news group Friday.
“We are clothed any time we go past a designated point inside the park on the way to the gate,” she clarified on Facebook.
According to WSMV, Palmer spotted the fire around 1:15 p.m. as she was driving home and called others at the lodge.
She told McClatchy two members of the nudist park were sent over with Rock Haven’s 1964 Ford fire truck while a third walked through the woods to get to the scene.
It was the first time the truck, which holds 500 gallons of water, was used to fight a larger-scale fire, WSMV reported.
Crews worked for hours to contain the fire, WKRN reported, which eventually reached one neighbor’s home and melted the siding.
Matt Neely, who owns some of the property that was burned, said the grass was “just tinder waiting to go up” without rain, according to the media outlet.
Some of the nudists also helped move hay bales away from the fire using a tractor, WTVF reported.
One of the property owners told the media outlet it could have been worse but said he didn’t think negligence was a factor.
“We’re in a drought. It hasn’t rained in forever,” he said. “Things happen. There’s no structure damage, no loss of life so it’s a good day.”
Rutherford County Fire and Rescue had reminded people on Facebook Monday that a burn ban is still in effect for the area. A permit is also required for all open burning.
“We know the ban can be an inconvenience — but please, for the safety of yourselves and your neighbors, OBEY the ban,” firefighters said in a post. “We have had at least twice as many calls for illegal burning and brush fires in the last couple of days — right now there is not enough moisture to prevent a small flame from spreading, and there is not enough rain forecasted to lift the ban anytime soon.”
