Person killed in downtown Gatlinburg fire identified. Youre right change is hard to come by. We are to be stewards of the land. Over 3000 wildfires received Initial Attack in November in the southern Appalachians, many of which were still very active when Chimney Tops 2 started. If the superintendent of the Park Service couldnt see what the consequence could be then he was not qualified for the job and after reading his BIO he was never qualified and this is what we get. Those people have their head in a hole, a burned out tree stump hole the very definition of ignore-ance. Officials keep repeating that nothing like this has ever happened here before so they cant be responsible. How many sorties could those planes do in an single day even if they had been deployed on Even Friday?? The report said the fire was an accident and caused around $7 million in damages. We could smell smoke from the fires in NC for a month before the fire began on Chimney Tops. Jody, you have said well what Ive wanted to say from my impressions made after the fire about this tragic situation. In regard to the Knoxville News Sentinel article by Don Jacobs and an apparent press release statement by the Deputy Superintendent of GSMNP: There was no way the fire could have been extinguished before the winds came. Jordan says. It is my understanding this first fire was at or near the summit in the immediate vicinity of the 2nd fire which unfortunately devastated Gatlinburg. Oddly, some folks that posted photos of the fire of the 23rd in its early stages have either pulled the blogs or the material cannot be accessed. It is to be considered, but verified by other means. Sandra, I agree. That should have been done over Thanksgiving! Who knows what the climate will bring next year. As I reflect on the comments regarding this fire, the articles and analysis, as well as any instance of leadership, decision-making and accountability, I have to askHow is it that one gets experience? All those who have experience from saythe wildfires out west, were not born with it. I guess they must think when you have to go up there to handle this mess they caused that you dont need lodging, food or gas to get there. What caused the fire in the Smoky Mountains? You do not hang your child or throw them out for, with good intention making the wrong choices, you teach them and help them to understand the consequences. If this is the same Bob Stanton commenting here, then the bias is way too obvious. Oh thats right they did but it was after everything burned! The Gatlinburg fire chief should be FIRED. Even though I am located adjacent to the National Forest lands on 3 sides, I cannot invite them onto my property to help me lessen the fuel load proximal to my home. You are correct in pointing out the dead hemlocks. Due to the damage this fire has caused Im sure there will be follow-up effects (and recriminations) for years. They need to be accountable for their inaction, and action. Who caused the fire in Gatlinburg? But fires are getting nastier everywhere and folks keep saying past fire history isnt as good a guide as it used to be. Sometimes we win and sometimes we lose. Where the fire burned the valley floor, the desiccated hemlock burned freely and fully. Shortly after he left, he called my husband to tell him that the road between our house and downtown Gatlinburg was blocked by a crew from Sevier County Electric. They had no sirens or Claxons blaring, no shouting to evacuate thru their grill mounted speakers. He had been experiencing the high winds back West all day and was alarmed at possibilities as well. Bob called. On Sunday evening we discussed with Gatlinburg friends the forecast for high winds on Monday, so I disagree with local Gatlinburg officials that they were caught by surprise. Even the Gatlinburg Fire Chief had been told on Sunday at 0900 that models had the fire hitting downtown Gatlinburg by Tuesday 1100. As we drove south out of Pigeon Forge I took another photo before we entered the spur, which shows smoke and a red glow above Gatlinburg. I cannot count how many times my wife or I would find a fire smoldering typically from someone who flipped a lit cigarette and the brush when they were finished. I hope the report gives the reason why the tanker planes were never called in since they are co-managed by the NFS and NPS. When one seriously examines the events, these lives could have been spared despite the power of fire and wind. They didnt and now its the property owners problem, they havent offered any clean up assistance, free dumping fees, no permit cost to rebuild, and certainly no financial help. The next morning, the morning of 28th, I took boys to school and went to a dr. appointment in Sevierville. GATLINBURG, Tennessee -- The charges have been dropped against two teens who were accused of starting the wildfires in Gatlinburg last fall. Gatlinburg fire: Body found in blaze rubble, cause of fire under Suddenly a fire truck from Harriman came careening around the corner and headed up Turkey Nest Road. We waited as the days passed until we could go and see if ours had burned. Sunday, four days after the fire started, was the first time that any firefighting aircraft were used on the fire, Ms. Schroer said. There was much deadwood on the forest floor, including the Hemlocks and other species both down and standing dead. It was hard to drive because of falling leaves, branches, smoke, wind, and nerves. Enter your email address to subscribe and receive notifications of new articles by email. On November 27 the fire was a third of a mileas the crow flies from US Highway 441. I told him my home was on fire and he said they were evacuating everyone,then. Ash move in quickly after a fire, and through the yearly process of shedding their leaves, make it difficult for seeds from the Red Spruce/Fraser Fir/Hemlocks to make an effective seed-soil contact, thus when we lose one of these magnificent evergreen forests, it truly is a tragedy in more ways than one. We do have insurance however based on the prices for clean up there it wont go far enough to build back. Fire kills 1, destroys businesses in downtown Gatlinburg, Tenn Though once high winds hit, given the conditions there was no stopping the fire from destroying property. 2 min read. When peoples towns and lives are at stake, letting a fire burn or hoping to get lucky is a tough sell. During the investigation, fire officials interviewed a cleaner of Loco Burro who saw a person matching Bates description the morning of the fire. The multiple chain of events you refer to is also simple, two juvenile delinquents set the fire, the park service knew it existed and they did absolutely nothing to put it out. It is a truism that many people want all the benefits of government, but dont want to pay for them. One of the owners of the impacted businesses called a contractor to demolish a damaged portion of the building. Resources = $$$=taxes. I would rather have someone on the job who has screwed up, erred and learned from the experience as I know that the chances of a repeat performance are lessened and for most learners they will progress forward with even better decision making skills. Many times this tactic takes commitment of over a week. I turned on tv to see if there were warnings of any sort. And I dont write about that many of them. I would like to insert the word, accountability into this discussion. I hope to remedy that starting now! But until the awareness of possibility and the letting go of holding onto what we think we know to be the truth much will remain unchanged. Some of the drainages where the managers hoped to stop the fire were a half mile away. It works like an Amber Alert to people who download the app and sign up. I looked at the NWS Forecast Discussion and told my sister They should order pre-evacuation before the wind gets strong.. What Caused The Gatlinburg Fire - BikeHike Without sufficient safe zones being created in advance each road was easily blocked either by fire or debris. I understand the excellent point made in the article that history in the Smokies area would expect less of a problem than out West. And not only they had time to evacuate but I called 911 Monday night on Nov. 28 2016 and ask if there was any evacuation orders for Gatlinburg and was told By The 911 operator no not at this time Later found out the whole place was on fire at the same time I called 911 ( WHY ) was I lied to ? Other than the way the police were able to evacuate 4,000 people from Gatlinburg with little notice on Monday evening, everyone else involved did a very poor job. If Knox media wanted to go after the NPS or someone else wanted them to, it is possible that even their timeline and investigation is slanted. Im not saying IMTs are perfect (and no doubt there are background politics involved), but they sure appeared to do an awesome job coming to the situation with a big view and didnt hesitate to get the job done and keep the public informed. We have had dry conditions in years past and there has probably been fires in the past and nothing like this ever happened. The action taken by firefighters on Monday was defensive, to protect threatened structures at a nearby National Park Service picnic ground. This is just one more example of one more related issue that is seemingly un-connected until you delve into the issues deeply. I viewed aerial photos of that area over the past 10 years (on USGS website). There could be traffic jams. Charges dismissed against boys, ages 17 and 15 after Gatlinburg - WITI The smoke steadily became thicker as the days passed and friends were showing pictures of the Chimneys on fire. Body found in rubble of Gatlinburg fire - wtvq.com We have also come upon many campfires that tent campers and others thought or extinguished but were back to a full burn with not adequate fire breaking around it. Thought among the locals is that officials didnt want to lose the post-holiday weekend crowd and revenue. As I learned in the first 12 hours what took place there, I realized that there was almost no preparation for the risk of a fire, on any Please factor this in to your fire response in the future. Thanks for the correction Bill. with a notice that evacuation is imminent would have been prudent. Whose else is there? But the pickup trucks I encountered were full of wildfire firefighters, inside the City of Gatlinburg. Many locals are saying the lack of evac was income driven. My husband and I were at our house in Gatlinburg, just north of the Park Vista, on the night of the fire. Limbs began to fall. Firefighting aircraft were not used until helicopters dropped water on the fire Sunday afternoon, November 27 four days after it started. I have here a firsthand account of how a homeowner, who lost her house, lived through the days before the fire and through the fire. I appreciate how articulately you described your thoughts. The fire on Sunday caused extensive damage to a block of . For reference, 600 or above would indicate severe drought andincreased wildfire occurrence. This eventually will affect us all at some point in time, as we too may one day find ourselves faced with similar circumstance. Below is the stateof access to the fire area, as reported by the IMT: The National Park is closed from the Gatlinburg Entrance to Smokemont near Oconaluftee (US 441, Newfound Gap) and Little River Road from Sugarlands Visitor Center to Townsend. I convinced my husband to drive back toward our house to see if we could see the fire. The Chimney Tops fire was a wildfire being monitored given limited resources initially because of the many other ongoing fires in the region to which fire-fighting resources were committed. Will the NPS Fire Management leadership at the Regional, NIFC and Washington DC levels admit to some very poor policy and decision making problems associated with the Chimney Top 2 disaster? I keep up with what is going on nationwide and every time I hear about a monitored or let burn fire that escapes the maximum management area, I write about it. We have a mountaintop cabin about 50 miles south of this area. When did Gatlinburg burn . I dont understand, but I dont judge. We went to West TN for Thanksgiving Holidays and came back home to Gatlinburg on Sunday. The 2016 Gatlinburg wildfire was deadliest in the eastern half of the U.S. since the Great Fires of 1947 in Maine and the worst in the history of Great . If the new location isnt in Gatlinburg, it will definitely be in Sevier County. We all contribute to this phenomenon if not intentionally but unintentionally, simply by the design of our brains! I was in my cabin on 28 November and barely made it out alive. What caused the Gatlinburg wildfire? - al.com This fire as did others around this time had highly predictable potential for massive and rapid spread. Yet no one will be severely punished i.e. Experience must be coupled with training and planning based on forecasted possibilities and even un-forecasted what ifs. We were there on Thanksgiving week-end. The Incident Management Teams fighting fires in GA and NC gave pre-evac notices for people within 10 miles of the fire line each time a cold front with high winds approached. http://henryspoetry.blogspot.com/2016/12/cabin-on-creek-and-chimneys-top-2-fire.html, http://henryspoetry.blogspot.com/2016/12/great-chimney-tops-2-fire-science.html. The extremely dry conditions in the area, though, should have raised the concern level. If the NPS backfires were not ignited on the 28th; then they had to be ignited on the 27th a day before the fire broke out. Lets see, that would probably consist of a GS-5 or 6 and two or three seasonal GS-4s. But very little if any fire suppression activity occurred until Monday, November 28. OF COURSE the dead hemlocks (and spruces and firs) are changing the picture for fire danger.