CHEROKEE, N.C. -- Crews are fighting a major brush fire on the Cherokee Reservation. Investigators now believe it's arson. The fire has burned about 200 acres and the fight continues Sunday afternoon.
Crews from the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and the state of North Carolina have been working since Friday. That's when investigators believe someone intentionally set several fires.
"Someone deliberately set that fire and start to set four others," Darlene Whitetree, Superintendent of the Cherokee Indian Agency of the BIA, said.
Fire crews were successful in putting out the other four. The fire burning Sunday spread across Mount Noble early in the morning, jumping a creek.
Whitetree says there's no danger to any homes in the area, but the damage has already been done to some landowners.
"You're burning someone's resources, the wood. They could have sold that wood," she said.
The same area has been hit before. Nearly a year ago, fire crews battled a 120-acre fire also suspected to be arson. Last year's fire did put some homes in danger.
Sunday, a light wind and low humidity made trouble for firefighters working to save the town below. Investigators are asking for help from anyone who has any information.
"The person who is setting the fires is going to make a mistake and they're going to burn a house," Whitetree said. "Someone could get hurt."
If you have any information, call WE TIP to remain anonymous at 1-800-78-CRIME-NOW. A $10,000 reward will go to anyone with information that can lead to a conviction.
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