The wildfires caused millions of dollars in damage. Contingency plans for how to evacuate the entire town, regardless of the specific hazard, were not well thought out. The adelgid apparently needs the rougher bark of older trees to climb up the trunk to the greenery on which they feed. Its sad. I do remember the bad fires in the 1990s in Florida and Colorado (I was in Glenwood Springs at a week-long seminar only a week after the Storm King Mountain aka South Canyon fire). I ran other errands and stopped by cabin to unload groceries before picking boys up from school. Why is forestry both national and state not working more collaboratively with citizens and local fire departments to improve awareness and preparation? Most of those resources were involved in those ongoing fires and unavailable for immediate response to a small fire, when it was still small. Thats perfect Johnny. Published: Dec. 24, 2022 at 10:17 AM PST GATLINBURG, Tenn. (WVLT) - On Friday, Gatlinburg city officials released a report detailing the downtown fire on Oct. 9 that killed one person and. Defense attorney Gregory P. Isaacs said the state can't prove that the horseplay of the boys, ages 17 and 15, sparked a fire in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park that caused the deadly . What caused the fire in the Smoky Mountains? Money. By definition, prescribed burning is described as fire applied in a knowledgeable manner to forest and grassland fuels on a specific land area under selected weather conditions to accomplish predetermined, well-defined management objectives, pg 2, http://www.southernfireexchange.org/etc/ITPFISE.pdf. The massive Gatlinburg wildfires, which began in November, caused the deaths of 14 people, injured 175 others and destroyed homes and towns all around eastern Tennessee. I had concerns about traffic once we got down there. Can fire experts examine burned areas and decipher the path of natural wildfire from managed ignited fires? What about helicopters dumping water? Narrowing it down to human-causes is easy for an investigator. The notice went out to people within 10 miles of the fireline. The windspeed was 1 to 3 mph. Once again the County and the City is sitting around twiddling their thumbs and doing nothing just like they did when the fire started and they could have contained it. 865-637-2442. Jordans comments on the video indicates that their management was taking care to show how they were not responsible. Not the best plan but the safest. When enough folks dont take a vulnerable interest in situations and root out the evidence and real root causes to a situation, that is how cover-ups and lies live on, and the wrong people or wrong causes go unrooted. A mandatory evacuation should have been issued, at the latest, Monday morning, with reverse 911 calls, as well as loudspeaker equipped vehicles. I was in my cabin on 28 November and barely made it out alive. 6 to the intersection at Reagen Drive reopened Monday afternoon after being closed Sunday morning, according to a release. China Bazaar, Pucker's Sports Grill, Gifts of . perish, but for the 14 who did, The fire could have been accidental, or it may have been intentional. The use of smokejumpers could be part of the plan. I was nervous about it. Many are willing to allow the absolute open permission to some to behave as they will without question, but are unwilling to allow others the same room to learn and grow. I told him there wasnt when I got there at 5 oclock but I could not even see driveways on the way up. time. The truck was filled with firefighters. The public cannot sit on their hands and expect anything to change. It is important to look at many facets, evidence and root cause studies so that the issues can be resolved. Fire managers brought in resources from all over the country. Aircraft dropping water or fire retardant on a fire cannot put it out. One option could be helicopter fire repellers to repel into the fire and make an assessment of risk. Yes my house burnt along with 520 others in North Chalet Village, village no longer but all foundations. Learning for the future is important if it includes changes in policy and procedure. She replied, Mrs. Almost every creek drainage in GSMNP has stands of dead hemlocks (though some areas near roads had some hemlocks treated regularly to prevent adelgid infestation). Just like the Mayor of Amity in Jaws, they didnt want the tourists to see this much reality. Praying for those residents that have it far worse than I. Had they viewed the Chimney Tops 2 fire as though it was in the forested southwest Im sure they would have issued pre-evacuation notices up to 48 hours prior to the wind events of that Monday. @wvlt pic.twitter.com/P7roVBCq8B. Bill, correct me if I am wrong, but aircraft should be on the ground a half hour after sunset? There was much deadwood on the forest floor, including the Hemlocks and other species both down and standing dead. On the evening of the fire, I was monitoring tornadic storms across northern Mississippi because my family were driving to There are A lot of cheap seats in the arena filled with people who never venture onto the floor. Only 0.05 inch fell at the Indian Grave Remote Automatic Weather Station 18 miles west of the fire. Who was responsible for Gatlinburg fire? One question I have not seen asked is why any adult would have witnessed children playing with matches and lighting fires especially under the obvious conditions in this situation and 1. not taken immediate action 2. Above: The Drought Monitor issued November 29 showed Exceptional Drought, the highest category, for the Gatlinburg area and large sections of Tennessee, Georgia, Alabama, North Carolina, and South Carolina. The report said the fire was an . The next morning we werent allowed to go check on our house because of fires still burning and impassable roads. But the pickup trucks I encountered were full of wildfire firefighters, inside the City of Gatlinburg. Fire those managers! These fires were allowed to cook with little or no suppression action. Unfortunately, the good ole boy network, via the Sevier County DA, is trying to keep things in secret by cutting off all information after the the two teens were arrested, claiming such information could jeopordize the case against the teens. Are county officials telling people about the Code Red Alert System? The main road out of Gatlinburg is the Spur, which is the 5 mile stretch of Park Service Road that lies between Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg. Jody, you have said well what Ive wanted to say from my impressions made after the fire about this tragic situation. It was the hottest summer we ever felt. Our Gatlinburg Inn was built on family and community. We shouldnt have expected anything else, I dont know what we were thinking. He wanted us to pack and leave. This time it is not firefighters but civilian deaths. These words are so terribly inadequate but I feel even worse not saying anything at all. However, I still wonder why there has been no word from the governor about the post-fire review team he promised. Unfortunately human lives were lost and hundreds of folks have been displaced. However, by the time a federal judge dropped the charges six months later, some had lost focus on the fire. We need to hold, that experience though often shared, does not fit into every mold, because in the real world though some laws are universal, there is always changing variable and situations are never really exactly the same. Chalet Village Gatlinburg, Tommy there is a class action lawsuit being formulated by a Knoxville attorney. Back home in West TN, when tornado warnings were active in a particular area there were loud sirens that went off. Having said that, I used to work on an incident management team whose purpose was to manage what we called years ago, let burn fires. I hope that EM officials and local planning officials reconsider what and how structures are rebuilt in that area. Fortunately, Wildfire Today and Knox News had both published detailed timelines about what happened and when, before the Sevier County DA cut off the info flow. I thought if we were have to leave we could take both vehicles to our friends house to sit out the night. In addition thorough explanations could have been given for the reasons for calling for the Voluntary Evacuation and could have been published. It is this same type of think tank and diversity we need in reaching a host of solutions to our complexity of problems both in this situation and in all others. The identities of the three killed have not been released . The park needs to share accountability in this situation, and all of us who have formerly worked in fire realize this. Much of the southeastern United States had been suffering extremely dry conditions for two to three months. Of course, the city of A few scattered, mostly Red Spruce, conifers are all that is left. The leafless trees allowed more sunlight to hit the fuel, drying it out even more. Sweeney, to be honest weve never experienced circumstances quite like this. I thanked her, hung up and told Stanton to go load Ladys kennel. Numerous photos show a dramatic increase in smoke in the downtown area between 5 and 5:30 pm. Their are undoubtedly many many causative factors for any disaster, even the actions, inactions and unintentional actions can be like a snowball rolling down a mountain of snow! It was about 11:30AM when we got to downtown Gatlinburg, where I took photos of the heavy on the Parkway in town. I doubt that anyone other than the arsonists intended to cause harm in any way here, and knowing the ages of those who lit the fire, I doubt that they themselves had any idea of the potential outcome. Many fire managers in that situation would immediately attack emerging fires very aggressively with overwhelming force, that is, many firefighters on the ground assisted by numerous aircraft dropping water or fire retardant. I have for years pointed out to my students the dead hemlock all over the mountain. That said I have been an avid backpack or in hiker who has done probably every trail in the Smokies many times over. I stopped him and said, Stanton, weve got to calm down and go slowly getting out of here so that we dont scare Abram and so that we can drive safely. Of course they wont. On Friday, Gatlinburg city officials released a report detailing the downtown fire on Oct. 9. High winds were to start soon and rain was 5 hours away as indicated by radar. Compare the events to their fire management manual and contradictions are present. Anytime that one side seeks to destroy the other as opposed to actually raise the issues, I would raise a red flag and wonder what the distraction is really trying to hide! Question, seek truth and evidence, get to the roots, with the intention to create and apply solutions, not simply hang someone; that is how we grow forward! But I believe there is a fourth element of fire behavior prediction and that is the element of situational awareness. When we reached Turkey Nest Road there was a big white crewcab pickup truck parked in front of Barbaras Real Estate. What about firefighter safety? Yet, at that very time, citizens were asking city employees and fireman if they should evacuate (well documented in the local news). They were told No, we have it under control.. there is nothing that can address the failure of leadership at every level that contributed to that loss of life. Our local congressional representative will be the first to confront the Park Service for numerous shortfalls, bias agendas that cater to special interest groups, and a host of other issues to where the NPS serves itself more so than the people. But there have also been many times when these so called experts were thrust into a different climate or situation and they too experienced failures. Are they learning how to use it? The man at the Forestry base told him the winds were predicted to keep getting stronger and to be careful of falling limbs. I am a property owner in the Lake of the Ozarks, in Missouri, and oddly enough, had just returned from a trip to Branson, Missouri. What good does it do to lynch those who are learning and gaining the very experience we expect and seek? We all contribute to this phenomenon if not intentionally but unintentionally, simply by the design of our brains! Just looking at media coverage on the evacuation order public messaging snafu points out that this fire will provide many lessons learned for future fire managers. etc. By the time we got to the Marshalls house it was 6:00 PM and they were watching the news. Basically telling the press, the public and the injured families to go to hell. There were and continue to be many deaths and fires that occurred in those western areas, and with those IMT expert Teams, that taught hard lessons, and enabled those people to gain experience and become the so called experts in the field. Typically instead of outright termination, the NPS is classic just to relocate the personnel and in some cases give them a promotion to keep them happy and from whistle-blowing; or just live in a delusional world of denial. The fire did not get up the valley to the Alum Cave Parking Lot, and LeConte Lodge is fine. CNN A wildfire burning near the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in Sevier County, Tennessee, has grown to more than 3,700 acres and impacted more than 100 structures, County Mayor Larry. I fully understand the financial difficulties of the NPS and with firefighters abroad. I only lost my house, but someone has to speak the truth about what did/didnt happen that day/night. Not to lay blame or punishment but as a real learning tool for improvement of service provision. I just assumed that others would be leaving Gatlinburg out of concerns similar to mine. Hemlocks standout on aerial photos because the limbs grow in a spiral pattern around the tree. National Park Service says never push a slower friend down when escaping a bear, Knoxville utilities crews work to restore power after intense storms, Missing elderly Knoxville woman last seen at hospital, police say, Vols drop to 5-seed in SEC Tournament after falling at Auburn, 79-70. fire Sunday morning destroyed their building. I spent two weeks in the area after the fire to inspect my property and ascertain where my wife and I would go from there. With that all happening before lunch. Susan, Nicely put together article. There was two contributing factors to this disaster. I am not convinced that all of what is considered to be the Chimney Tops 2 fire is. The remains of 745 Main Street in Buffalo on Thursday, March 2, 2023., where a fire broke out on Wednesday . For reference, 600 or above would indicate severe drought andincreased wildfire occurrence. I wish the Feds had kept the case instead of handing it off to the local DA. Perhaps all the firefighters prior experience was giving them mental slides that were no longer valid given the conditions. (Credit: Tom Williams), Two people in custody after police chase, manhunt near Warrior & Hayden, Protest held in memory of Glenn Foster Junior, Fire department K-9 dies during search and rescue mission. The cause of the fire remains under investigation by the GFD, Gatlinburg Police Department, and the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation. Many citizens whom I spoke with had never heard the terms red flag alert and in absence of the term, were not aware of the situations that would lead to such a designation or where to turn to find information on wildfires. In Gatlinburg, smoke and fire caused the mandatory evacuation of downtown and surrounding . What did City officials not understand about the approaching danger? Ive posted this type of questioning on other Wildfire Today articles. You cannot sit and watch a fire in the mountains this close to a town and not call in lots of HELP!!! It was shaking the car as we drove. Its community and people that have jobs. It is very hard and slow to navigate through laurel stands and the thick Tennesee Barbed Wire Briar patches. I believe that many, many people are alive now because they did use common sense but some of the people who died, were victims of circumstances that they should never have faced if their public officials had been acting solely on their responsibility, first and foremost, and perhaps only, to protect and serve. In my eyes, TEMA should have taken control of the situation and ordered evacuations before sunset. they if you limit that to local staff might not have as much fire management experience as say Yosemite or Yellowstone. The winds that Monday afternoon had knocked power lines down and early reporting made mention of separate ignition points in the residential hillsides. A complex set of contributing factors no doubt, many that fell on deaf ears until they had to open eyes! As citizens we should be aware of all threats we face and expect our leadership to plan ahead as best they can. There are thousands and thousands of people who feel as I do about your loss and the losses of so many people in Gatlinburg and the surrounding area. On Wednesday, November 23, 2016 a hiker on the popular Chimney Tops Trail managed to capture a photo of two teenage boys dropping lit matches on the trail despite the current no-burn order in the area. November 27th, 35 acres. Thanksfully ATF agents helped TN Bureau of Investigation put their full resources at hand and arrested to two teenage idiots that started the fire. A similar fire occurred on English Mountain. I was on the phone w them that Mon. Until theyre able to return, Neddo hates to see the Gatlinburg Parkway location gone, but he hopes the next place will be even better. GALLATIN, Tenn. (WTVF) Wildfires have ravaged Sevier County six years after deadly fires destroyed parts of Gatlinburg. it would not be the first time that political or other motivation caused biased reporting. But very little if any fire suppression activity occurred until Monday, November 28. There could be falling trees. I have been walking the woods around Gatlinburg a lot since the Fire. Questions are powerful tools, but only when we allow them to be asked, we receive them with an openness and willingness to be vulnerable, and seek to answer them openly and without fear of reprisal. Regarding the Chimney Tops Fire of Nov 14th, 2016, https://www.facebook.com/GreatSmokyMountainsNPS/posts/1236286613095333. It is unfortunate that in our society people who speak out with a loud voice, or otherwise make waves for the privileged, get not only scorned but categorically destroyed by well planned out and financed design, often full of cover-up and lies and then propaganda is feed to the rest of us, of which we often take for gospel, when in fact is often not based on evidence or fact. This is a failure at the city, county and state levels, as well as top FEMA, leadership. These are the facts and simple truths that should not be ignored. None of our fires escaped, in part because we had some very smart, very experienced people in key positions. Once again, can fire discreetly smolder in the duff amid rock crevices? I would recommend reviewing Wildfire Todays post titled: NPS releases information about the Chimneys Tops Fire 2 as well as the post Analysis of wind, vegetation, and air tankers before the fire burned into Gatlinburg. Though Im missing the boat a little here, my questioning is still legitimate being that any managed ignited fire can still get out of control adding to an existing wildfire or creating one. Not even 5 years ago over 60 homes burned in one night in Wears Valley when fire spread from house to house, in the fall, during a high wind. Fires in the Great. teams had Lake Lure and Tate City evacuate when high winds were forecast. I told him there wasnt when I got there at 5 oclock but I could not even see driveways on the way up. The report stated the roof started to collapse, and the building was deemed too unsafe to work inside. We drove down to Calhouns complex, through their parking area and back out onto the parkway and headed east. Yet no one will be severely punished i.e. It is a primary source and illuminates some of the discussion topics that have been on Wildfire Today. It certainly should be addressed, by We, the People. Was it ever fully suppressed? All without the but why reflection, cause and effect analysis, drill down technique and the inter-relationship effect. Fire erupts on both side of Highway 441 between Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge, Tenn., Monday, Nov. 28, 2016. People in our country must get this, because for all the overwhelming issues in our country today, they keep voting many of the same politicians back into office over and over and over again expecting a different outcome. Tough questions like, Why did it take so long for community leaders to activate burn bans in spite of the extreme drought conditions, fuel loads, number of arson fires and the regional outbreak of fires, the social nature of this crime, and other related events. I am hopeful that there are enough folks taking note of and keeping a watchful eye out for this situation, so that lies and cover-up will be vetted. When I arrived in Branson at the hotel I was close to a fire exit, and frankly forgot about my nightmare. They probably feel they are fortunate and safe because they will not speak out on the topic until the criminal charges are completed against the two youth that perpetrated this fire but they would be foolish to do so as time just continues to churn the anger. We couldnt go up Motor Nature Trail so we went back to Cherokee Orchard Road. When we got to end of Beech Branch Rd., and turned onto Spur, there was no traffic but the winds were getting worse. Kids should be charged and pay a price but so do several officials in the good old boy still lives on in the town of Gatlinburg. The needle suffered extensive damage and was closed for three years. I went back a few years ago and it was completely different. Four downtown Gatlinburg businesses are picking up the pieces, after a fire Sunday morning destroyed their building. I would like to insert the word, accountability into this discussion. Until 1 p.m. sustained speeds were 4 to 6 mph with gusts at 12 to 19 mph. Shelter locations could have been announced, especially encouraging people to take action during the daylight hours that day so that escaping in total darkness during an inferno of fire or not having the means to do so would not be forced on people, and they could make arrangements for their own safety.
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