There are a lot of excellent experienced fire management staff working for the Park Service. Nonetheless, your observations on the 21st indicate that no signs of the 14th fire were present; and if the NPS did fully suppress the first fire, their timeline was undoubtedly non-aggressive to do so. You can see in the leaf pattern around it how a strong gust pushed up against the side of the house. We looked at each other and I asked if we should leave or go back and try to use the water hose to protect the house. Enter your email address to subscribe and receive notifications of new articles by email. When I crawled my way up Pinecrest Drive to Wiley Oakley through dense smoke, I saw a Gatlinburg pumper at the top of the hill. Are they learning how to use it? Just a quick comment per above posts. Lets just live in denial, honor the government no matter what; and allow history to repeat itself with numerous secular and religious dictators. Good point, Ms. Horton. Gatlinburg businesses look to rebuild after massive fire But the pickup trucks I encountered were full of wildfire firefighters, inside the City of Gatlinburg. If the new location isnt in Gatlinburg, it will definitely be in Sevier County. There are hundreds of hemlock skeletons heading north from Chimney Rock. Fire those managers! I am just saying that it is not necessary to lynch someone in order to hold them accountable. Millions of dollars will be spent recovering and mitigating the after effects of this human caused and exasperated wildfire. Hello Jon, for what its worth, I did some hiking in the Greenbrier area of the GSMNP back in October and didnt notice many dead hemlocks, although The Chimneys area may be different, which I havent hiked in years. Charges dismissed against boys, ages 17 and 15 after Gatlinburg - WITI Contractor will be on site this weekend with a subcontractor cleaning up my debris and really pouring my foundation and my logs will arrive within 15 days or more . If I had even been in the bathroom or downstairs I wouldve died . Well said, the terrain here is different than a lot of places, even out west. Managers may need to keep resources in reserve for initial attack on new fires rather than a Hit it with all you have the Moment it breaks out. strategy. 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. I have memories of the endless mountainous terrain, but the vast development that came into being, came well after my trip there. When the simple laws of fire physics and chemistry correctly combine, fuel, heat, oxygen, and in the wildland fire arena available fuels, topography and ideal fire weather conditions mix in perfect alignment plus given adequate TIME, a-bine unattended campfire, an arsonists match, or a slowly backing down-slope surface fire in leaf litter during a record setting drought will ultimately result in a disastrous conflagration. Our world is complex and it is a system of interacting parts, we all need to start thinking more globally (meaning systemic and how each part interacts with the other) in our processes and understand how each choice, decision and action we take personally and as a group affect all the other parts. Anticipating the fire season, firefighting resources (people and equipment) were brought in from around the Southeast and other parts of the country. By the time we got to the Marshalls house it was 6:00 PM and they were watching the news. 1 dead in Anchorage home fire that officials say was likely caused by Below is a comment I posted from New Sentinel article about Gatlinburg fire, Wildfire Today something that undoubtedly should be investigated as well as compared to their actions of the 23rd to 28th Chimney Tops Fire 2: Officials are evasive and vague about the 1st Chimney Tops Fire. The dead hemlock had to have been of huge impact to the fire. From just across the Smokies in Bryson City, N.C./Swain county. I visited Gatlinburg on a trip to Asheville NC, in 1980. Climate change, human, social, political and economic factors are all also a part of this outcome, cause and effect. He wanted us to pack and leave. It was hard to drive because of falling leaves, branches, smoke, wind, and nerves. I hope that EM officials and local planning officials reconsider what and how structures are rebuilt in that area. I told him I would call fire department in Gatlinburg across from Food City. Which is why human history keeps repeating itself over and over. A voluntary evacuation should have been issued at least 36 hours before the fire exploded. I felt it urgent to get out of the woods. Even the Gatlinburg Fire Chief had been told on Sunday at 0900 that models had the fire hitting downtown Gatlinburg by Tuesday 1100. Good points about differentiating between prescribed fire and the wildfire. Watch the pride and ego firefighters: youll never outmatch Gods elements. 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. Thought among the locals is that officials didnt want to lose the post-holiday weekend crowd and revenue. By the way, I havent seen any local media covering much for the victims since the coverage with Jerry and the pursuit of compensation. We have turned in a claim but still no word on a settlement. Without sufficient safe zones being created in advance each road was easily blocked either by fire or debris. Published: Nov. 30, 2016, 8:41 p.m. Dry conditions and high winds caused a wildfire on Chimney Tops Trail in the Great Smoky Mountains to spread quickly . I dont have the statistics to prove what you wrote is incorrect, but I am convinced that it is not a fact to say most of the fires that are monitored (as opposed to fully suppressed) escape outside the agencys borders. Corker and Alexander know what would happen if they tried to interfere with a Federal prosecution! There is only one check point access at East Parkway (Hwy. Fire-wanted or unwanted- is not a warm and fuzzy abstract thing it is often portrayed in todays media and society to play around with. I found this blog and am so grateful to have an opportunity to reply and also to become informed from experienced, caring people of service in the firefighting effort. When we reached our car at road level, we saw flames coming over the ridge directly south of our house. I think that since its been brought to attention that nepotism shouldnt be involved in these positions because when it is you have people covering up, like a cat trying to cover up poop! We spent Thanksgiving there with our family, who left on Sunday. All without the but why reflection, cause and effect analysis, drill down technique and the inter-relationship effect. Some may be pines, but the vast majority appear to be hemlocks. It would appear that in the end it comes down to lack of adequate training, lack of adequate rehearsals (shouldnt they have known how to get messages out to the public via cell phone? Why the complacency? Gatlinburg fire burns downtown While my husband tried to rake the leaves away more than once, they blew right back in. They had access to the same fire flight info from Sundays flyover that other agencies had. Jeannine, what an awesome, in-depth and thoughtful response. The People have been deceived with a vague and biased investigation regarding this particular bear incident. Apparently, when the second fire was started by the defendants on the 23rd, the NPS assumed they could handle the 23rd fire like they did the first fire of the 14th. Did the 14th fire discreetly burn in the duff amid rock cervices? Anyone who has toured the hillsides where most of the homes that were destroyed would know immediately how difficult evacuations would be. I have a photo I took from the Walmart parking lot looking south that shows how smoky it was in Pigeon Forge. The wildfires caused millions of dollars in damage. Cafe 420 and Gifts of Gatlinburg were also destroyed. http://www.knoxnews.com/story/news/local/tennessee/2016/12/13/timeline-gatlinburg-wildfires/95138656/. It was a very horrible dream and I had qualms about my trip before I arrived in Branson. Perhaps all the firefighters prior experience was giving them mental slides that were no longer valid given the conditions. Local officials dont seem to learn from past experiences, nor plan well for possible dangers. Thats perfect Johnny. Yes my house burnt along with 520 others in North Chalet Village, village no longer but all foundations. I think 6 days should have been plenty of time for them to do something we now see what inaction causes, dont we. Neither the NPS nor the city wanted CNN cameras covering a mass evacuation of a town jam packed with tourists on Thanksgiving weekend. I do not remember her name. Contingency plans for how to evacuate the entire town, regardless of the specific hazard, were not well thought out. So because of his and other incompetence property owners are paying the price. I always come back to that groupthink mentality, the ladder of inference, the been there done that mode, the failure/fear to act, and thats how weve always done it thinking; all part of how our unconscious brain works without our conscious intervention and critical thinking skills. The miracle is that more people did not Ever since Hurricane Katrina, I have doubted the ability of our emergency managers to plan for any aspect of, or kind of disaster, and the fire in Gatlinburg only supports my concerns. Gatlinburg Fire 2016: The Start. 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. 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. By the time the troops were called in, it was too late. Report: Gatlinburg fire caused $7 million in damages Case in point, the wildfires in Florida 1998, in which those experts were unaware of or underestimated the burning intensity of the Palm Oils from the Florida flora, which were as flammable liquid fires during those wildfires. Bob, I know where youre coming from. GATLINBURG, Tenn. (WVLT) - Four downtown Gatlinburg businesses are picking up the pieces after a fire Sunday morning destroyed their building. 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! Photos: Fire in Gatlinburg, Tennessee | Photo Galleries | herald Humans will never be able to control or suppress all unwanted fires-structure, chemical or wildland. Talk about finger pointing! I am not holding my breath. Collaboration, open thinking and creativeness are key. So my husband called the Gatlinburg policy department with the same questions and got the same answers. The cause of the fire remains under investigation by the GFD, Gatlinburg Police Department and the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation. I was surprised that we saw no one at the closed Chimneys parking area early morning when we drove by. Impressive. Tunica, MS, from our area near Kansas City, to arrive late evening, that day, in Tunica. milepost 316. Instead simply took pictures on their phone, 3. These words are so terribly inadequate but I feel even worse not saying anything at all. It is now time for aircraft (usually helicopters) to start washing the fire off the hill. That is when it would have been prudent to announce a pre-evacuation notice for the Gatlinburg area to be ready to evacuate if an evacuation order is announced. In Gatlinburg, smoke and fire caused the mandatory evacuation of downtown and surrounding .
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