I kept seeing a large column of smoke north west of Sullivan, yet could not find out anything about it, finally dismissing it as a possible controlled burn by the state. A little while later, Bourbon and Sullivan Fire Departments were toned out for a barn fire north of Bourbon at the end of Mound Road near Cartwright Road. I arrived at the same time as Bourbon and followed them in, parking off the road, then walking down the lane to the farm…the barn by that time was pretty much consumed by the fire and on the ground, spreading out to other areas of the forest around it and consuming a camper and stacks of tires nearby as well…

…firefighters masked up and then spread out to extinguish hot spots everywhere….

…I turned around and spotted Brent Byrd dumping water from the tanker into the drop tank, he is one of Bourbon`s senior firefighters and responds on many calls, often driving and operating the pumpers or the tankers, and an all around great guy, following in his Dad`s footsteps as a firefighter….

…like his Dad, he leads by example and he sets a great example for the young firefighters with his work ethic, as does Chief Daniel Whatley…a young Chief who sets a great example by pitching in and working right alongside his young firefighters at just about every scene I have photographed….

…Sullivan`s firefighters arrived soon after and pitched in to help mop up the scene, while Jimmy Smythe brought another load of water with one of their tankers….

…I headed back to Sullivan to send the photos to Jim Bartle for the paper`s website, and no sooner pulled up on the exit ramp at the west overpass, when I spotted several grass fires between the overpasses…it looked like the entire highway was on fire…I drove down to the first fire near the intersection of the South Service Road and Fisher Drive and then on down past a larger fire in front of Zephyr….where Jim was assisting firefighters in raking out the flames….

…and then I drove to the other side of the interstate to photograph the other fires…

…a smaller fire in front of Subway and a larger fire in front of Applebees required a Franklin County Deputy to move westbound traffic over…those flames often fanned by the gusty winds, compelled the Deputy to back up a few times before fire crews were able to get to that fire….shorthanded due to assisting Bourbon with the Barn Fire….

..making for a long afternoon and evening for firefighters on the 25th of January…