Mosheim Elementary and West Greene Middle School students were briefly evacuated this afternoon after a field fire spread to woods adjacent to the school.
The Town of Mosheim, Mosheim, and Midway Volunteer Fire Departments were dispatched just after 1PM to a fire that spread from a field off West School Street. The fire then began to burn into a wooded area between those houses and the schools.
Extremely dry conditions and afternoon winds also helped drive the fire in the direction of the school. Students were evacuated to Mosheim Central United Methodist Church while volunteers worked to contain the fire. A bulldozer from the Tennessee Division of Forestry was also brought in and scraped all brush, leaves, and dry vegetation around the fire to contain it.
Once the fire was fully contained and most hot spots extinguished, the students were brought back to school, which dismissed early. The fire burned into the direction of, but never reached, two propane tanks near the school.
Despite the ban on outdoor burning, the fire appeared to have started from the burning of a trash pile behind a home on West School Street, although on official cause of the fire will remain under investigation.
