Thanksgiving weekend is one of the 4 busiest weekends for Gatlinburg and the National Park. Park Service has not issued any warnings and there are no active fires in Gatlinburg city limits. I ask her if they had plans of issuing a warning if evacuations became necessary and ask her how they would do that. Unusually dry conditions in eastern Tennessee spurred a ban on fires in the national park on Nov. 15. 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. My husband stopped the car and the two men inside identified themselves as city water department employees. There is no cost, and in case you change your mind each email has an unsubscribe button. We had hiked to the Chimneys for the view many times it was easy to see the wind being funneled down from there to Gatlinburg just like an invisible whitewater river. Thats exactly what I plan on doing and recording the calls so that if they dont take action they an explain to the public why after getting all of these calls with people pleading for them to take action. One or two of those employees fall to their death because they shouldnt have been there in the first place. What Caused the Gatlinburg Fire of 2016? Here's the Real Story The cause of the fire remains under investigation by the GFD, Gatlinburg Police Department, and the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation. Perhaps all the firefighters prior experience was giving them mental slides that were no longer valid given the conditions. Thank you for your kind words and concern about our loss. In addition thorough explanations could have been given for the reasons for calling for the Voluntary Evacuation and could have been published. 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. Incident Mgt. On November 11 some hikers found a fire built in the middle of the trail on brushy mountain trail. This is the way to honor each other and to learn. Henry, do you know the effect of the typical southeastern forest ground fires on the hemlock adelgid? Sitting in a Sevierville motel room for four days watching the fire chief, city mayor, city manager, and county mayor pat each other on the back for being Mountain Strong sickened me. So sometime during the night as we now know everything burned down. But, well see what the investigation comes up with. I was near Gatlinburg until Saturday prior to the fire, visiting my family. Alice Hagler was reported missing by her family and later confirmed dead. Even life-long locals said they had never seen rhododendren wither up before. He was told there was none/no one. 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. Regarding the Chimney Tops Fire of Nov 14th, 2016, https://www.facebook.com/GreatSmokyMountainsNPS/posts/1236286613095333. Many on that team are not NPS employees, but are highly experienced wildfire fighters. There are hundreds of hemlock skeletons heading north from Chimney Rock. The excellent Park folks seemed to just monitor it, and it resolved itself. It was pretty frightening. Yes government at all levels needs to be held accountable; otherwise we regress back into the Dark Ages. One only has to imagine a single downed power line starting a structure fire at the same time the wildfire was approaching to understand how the great loss of property and life actually happened. Whatever happened to good old common sense decisions considering the drought, excessive fuels, and weather! Even the Gatlinburg Fire Chief had been told on Sunday at 0900 that models had the fire hitting downtown Gatlinburg by Tuesday 1100. There were emergency vehicles blocking Motor Nature Trail. Person killed in downtown Gatlinburg fire identified This should be placed firmly on the shoulders of the Park Service, Cassius Cash, Superintendent and the City and County. So many unanswered questions? 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. I have a close friend on IMT in southern CO so have some familiarity with the process. Officials keep repeating that nothing like this has ever happened here before so they cant be responsible. But those heroes should have never been in that situation in the first place. I have a photo I took from the Walmart parking lot looking south that shows how smoky it was in Pigeon Forge. Why the complacency? Lets see, that would probably consist of a GS-5 or 6 and two or three seasonal GS-4s. 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. I said a quick prayer for safety and we started up hill to leave our truck. Well said, the terrain here is different than a lot of places, even out west. .. bless you all! I had these thoughts: if fire spreads from Chimney Tops and starts coming towards Gatlinburg, people are going to be getting gas and getting out. (The fire was in eastern Tennessee near the North Carolina border.). By the way, the drainage to the northwest, where NPS had placed their line, is .2 mile and ~1,000 feet vertical (77% grade) of mostly weathered rock. Many, if not most, of these incidents leave the confines of the managing agency and sweep out onto lands owned or managed by others. I know its good and natural periodically to let forest fires burn, but under the extreme drought conditions in this area, I was uneasy that fires werent being put out. This Park Ranger was appointed to this position in December 2014 and he took office in February 2015, so in a span of one year and nine months he managed to let the place burn and we have owned property there for 32 years and nothing remotely like this has ever happened. Those with information are urged to contact the Tennessee Arson Hotline at 1-800-762-3017 or the GFD at 865-436-5112. It is interesting, though not a surprise that when so many diverse experts from across the country and sometimes other countries come with diversity of experience, backgrounds, and training; all come together to handle a disastrous incident, such as this, they do so and often are quite successful. I am broken-hearted over it .. Ive ranted about the comparison to how Chimney Tops and Gatlinburg was handled by GSMNP and TEMA. The amount of dead Frazier fir and Spruce trees, caused by similar non-native infestation, is dramatic on Newfound Gap road, but mainly past The Chimneys at higher elevations. If the defendants didnt ignite the 14th fire, who did and is this 14th fire under investigation? We couldnt go up Motor Nature Trail so we went back to Cherokee Orchard Road. Firefighters from Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge responded. The NPS protected themselves and other special interest groups as well. The winds that Monday afternoon had knocked power lines down and early reporting made mention of separate ignition points in the residential hillsides. Thanks for the legwork. Here again, more of a horse and pony show from all officials both state and federal. there is nothing that can address the failure of leadership at every level that contributed to that loss of life. Im hoping at this point, its going to be pretty quick. Its incredulous that evacuation didnt go out then. A high-elevation area that possessed the largest unbroken Spruce-Fir forest in the S. Appalachians. Its hard to see. The body of a person has been found in the rubble of a fire in downtown Gatlinburg, our ABC affiliate WATE reported Monday. You are aware that Bill Gabbert the Editor of Wildfire Today spent a large part of his fire carrier with the Park Service where I believe he was served on a nationwide Type I IMT. Some of those businesses told WVLT News they have a long road ahead as they wait on insurance adjustors to calculate their losses. 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. I am aware that in this area of the Eastern Appalachians, there are many retired firefighters and emergency personnel who would probably be willing partners in helping other regional professionals and volunteers in meeting the opportunities presented by a changing world. Hopefully all of those affected will be able to begin again. Why the Monday morning quarterbacks seems to always get it right, while those in the game make the errors and the scores, winning and losing. We warned them about the approaching fire before turning the opposite direction to proceed on downtown. Of course, the city of The adelgid apparently needs the rougher bark of older trees to climb up the trunk to the greenery on which they feed. I look forward to seeing the report when it comes out. November 27th, 35 acres. Whose else is there? Classic Swiss Cheese risk management fire management failurehave we as a profession learned anything since South Canyon, Yarnell and now Chimney Top 2? I did not rely on a fire weather service for my information even though I new where to look, I used much of the common everyday information available to the open community, the data I had learned from and observed during the short time of being in this area, and current observations. Any time our community suffers a great loss or devastation like this, it impacts everybody, she said. Fire behavior is predictable, based on things such as mentioned in this article; weather, terrain and fuels. Until 1 p.m. sustained speeds were 4 to 6 mph with gusts at 12 to 19 mph. The Spur between Pigeon Forge to Gatlinburg is open from Pigeon Forge to the Gatlinburg Welcome Center. Ten people were hospitalized after a Spirit Airlines plane bound for Orlando, Florida, made an emergency landing in Jacksonville due to a fire onboard, according to officials. Emotions do get the best of us. Its always been this way so you have to watch who you deal with, this is why the City and County need to clean this up, this would bring down the prices of these people with signs up everywhere for clean up. (Originally published at 11:04 a.m. MST November 23 . Yes a lot is somewhat predictable, just as this fire, but not every aspect is, there are too many variables in the real world. The deaths in this incident can be attributed to being trapped and forced to shelter in place. 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. Once the winds came on day 5 or 6, there was nothing anyone could do. Bob called. Another 2.3 inches accumulated that day by the time it stopped at 7 p.m. I agree, this has many players to blame and starts with Superintendent Cassius Cash and trickles down to the City and County. Since we had been planning all day to go downtown to play trivia at Smoky Mountain Brewery, we left the house about 5:55PM. LeConte. To access this area, it is important to follow check point protocols. He asked them how or who we could contact to get emergency information. Good comments by all. Nicely put together article. 2 min read. A year or two ago, there was a small fire on Rocky Spur on the Rainbow Falls Trail up Mt. About 20 years ago, I hiked to Albright Grove, an old-growth hemlock forest near Greenbrier. The NPS, IMO, did not take an aggressive stance on this fire, and that is usually the case with them. Those people have their head in a hole, a burned out tree stump hole the very definition of ignore-ance. Just like the Mayor of Amity in Jaws, they didnt want the tourists to see this much reality. 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. Too often the only voice that is heard in our society is money and the more one has the more they are heard. That seems to be confirmation that the fire had crossed 441 early in the day. But when it's close to home, the sadness and concern of those affected is ten-fold in the worry department. Holding the responsible people accountable is the only course of action that honors what was lost. Cleanup continued Tuesday, with crews piling up rubble near Traffic Light 6 on the Gatlinburg Pkwy. This is how we all get better at what we do and are. You bet you were. Nothing happens in a vacuum. Who caused the fire in Gatlinburg? Hit it with all you have the Moment it breaks out.. I said Fed. The remains of 745 Main Street in Buffalo on Thursday, March 2, 2023., where a fire broke out on Wednesday . I have seen local hiking pictures that appear to show two separate smoke columns on Saturday 11/26. Frankly people should lose their jobs and fault should be placed on their shoulders. The city said crews working the structure fire that . The Gatlinburg Space Needle fire (July 1992) In 1992, a fire destroyed Ripley's Gatlinburg Museum which was, at the time, located at the base of the needle. The next morning we werent allowed to go check on our house because of fires still burning and impassable roads. This should not be a time to blame and inflame, but to think and act wisely. A club . How many resources were on how many fires at that time in this region and in others? I agree with the earlier post that if this fire had been in Southern California or other areas subject to devastating fire if it would have been managed differently. If I had even been in the bathroom or downstairs I wouldve died . Hire an independent fire behavior consultant to assist in PLANNING and timely response if conditions appear to be coming into (fire) alignment. Often times in seeking to take out a person, the real root causes go unaddressed, and sometimes that includes some people taking the fall for decisions of others that were major contributing factors. The 2016 Great Smoky Mountains wildfires, also known as the Gatlinburg wildfires, [1] were a complex of wildfires which began in late November 2016. He asked them if they had any information on the fire and they told him Youve got nothing to worry about. By this time the wind was blowing hard and strong. The park should have been begging for help and putting out warnings all week end!!! Too old to start over, fear it could happen again and they could be in their home like I was, or out and out mistrust of local government. Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, Gatlinburg Fire Department and Gatlinburg Police Department officials are investigating. The coolness and the moisture were gone. By the way, I havent seen any local media covering much for the victims since the coverage with Jerry and the pursuit of compensation. Over 130 sustained injuries, and 1,684 structures have been damaged or destroyed. I hold you in my thoughts and prayers for healing and recovery there are others who have posted about their losses on this blog, Kelly for one, and I did not give myself peymidfipn to say these words to them at the time .. People responsible during the initial stages of the Chimney Top 2 wildfire need to be held accountable for violating these basic rules of fire physicsperiod.

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