The whole thing is unconscionable to me. Remember GSMNP is not Yosemite or Yellowstone with extreme fire behavior and a history of problems. Jim Renfro, the air quality specialist for GRSM, said the strongest wind gust recorded at Cove Mountain was 87 mph at 9 p.m. on Monday. That evening, GSM park officials tweeted that a 1.5 acre fire (Chimney Tops 2 fire) was burning in a steep location around the Chimneys. That said I have been an avid backpack or in hiker who has done probably every trail in the Smokies many times over. A similar fire occurred on English Mountain. I convinced my husband to drive back toward our house to see if we could see the fire. But it is good that you ask questions, and you should expect answers and a demonstration of learning, but you have to give that opportunity, just as you would want. He had been experiencing the high winds back West all day and was alarmed at possibilities as well. You can only manage one of those. For the most part, the issues are with the Upper Brass. I hope the governors investigation team finds all of the miscues AND gets proper training for all the different agencies involved. We spent Thanksgiving there with our family, who left on Sunday. Now I am tasked with trying to motivate and coordinate the local fire departments much of who are volunteer, the state and national forest professionals to work with me and the community. A voluntary evacuation should have been issued at least 36 hours before the fire exploded. It is important to look at many facets, evidence and root cause studies so that the issues can be resolved. Firefighting aircraft were not used until helicopters dropped water on the fire Sunday afternoon, November 27 four days after it started. They felt this was an attempt to start a forest fire and it was reported to officials. Do arsonists typically work alone? Instead, the city ordered evacuation of the neighborhoods nearest the NPS day use area that was on fire (Mynatt Park and others). They strive to their utmost and have a true passion working in GSMNP. As it turned out the sprinklers were far above affordable means and way outside the parameters quoted by the NFPA for the cost of a standard sprinkler system so we did not get them. 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 remains of a business in Gatlinburg, Tenn., smolder on Nov. 29, after a devastating wildfire damaged or destroyed more than 2,000 buildings and killed at least 14 people. I am broken-hearted over it .. Digression from Comment Thread He actually wrote me back on Christmas Eve, of all things, to tell me that they will keep after it. These breaks downs undoubtedly show shortcomings by officials. There is a marked increase in smoke and decreasing visibility due to the smoke. The notice went out to people within 10 miles of the fireline. with a notice that evacuation is imminent would have been prudent. To echo your statements, the information is out there, a model exists on how to properly do it now its getting the proper training for all of the professionals involved and the public taking the role of accountability watchdogs. WBIR is going to interview me as soon as two weeks from now regarding how I was taken for $120,000 by a crooked contractor that I was hooked up with by a log home firm. The reason that is a point is IMT has experience far beyond any fire teams in east TN or GSMNP, especially with wind-driven wildfires. It would make suppression efforts difficult, but a fire break could have been constructed around the original slow-moving fire in the early days. People lost their lives and homes because no warnings!!! 321) at Glades Road and the Post Office. As one who has had experience and ready mix, concrete block, pavers, and pre-cast, one would be a fool to rebuild on ANY existing foundation that came in contact with temperatures approaching 3,000F. These fires were allowed to cook with little or no suppression action. The report stated the demolition was requested due to the health and safety of the citizens and visitors in the event of a full structure collapse.. Conspiracy, no. But all sitting back and doing nothing to help. Will Lessons Learned fade into distant short-term US fire management history archives once again. So because of his and other incompetence property owners are paying the price. They just hurl mean criticisms and put downs from a safe distance Brene Brown. Yet today June 5th, Sevier County still has their infamous gag order in effect more than 6 months later in the interests of prosecuting the trial of the murdurous kids. Sometimes we win and sometimes we lose. Monday I was surprised to look at the Knoxville News and see nothing about evacuation notices. Those with information are urged to contact the Tennessee Arson Hotline at 1-800-762-3017 or the GFD at 865-436-5112. It was very low on gas and fully covered with insurance. It is not just officials who have not caught up with the new climate reality, it is the general public and those in the path of fire. I am trying to learn everything I can and hope to find an avenue to serve in this cause in some small way as most of you have and are serving in major, ways, risking your lives. Just a quick comment per above posts. Council will utilize the 100s of wildfire experts testimony that the forresty service and local fire chief should have thrown everything they had at the Chimney 2 blaze the day it happened and everyone and every resource they could use from out of state that could get there within 24 hours. I left the professional fire service with 3o plus years of experience, yet with a still learning and observant mind. On November 27 the fire was a third of a mileas the crow flies from US Highway 441. Though once high winds hit, given the conditions there was no stopping the fire from destroying property. There is much to delve into in resolving the causative factors of this disaster and the fire and park service are only a part of that equation. 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. Fire kills 1, destroys businesses in downtown Gatlinburg, Tenn Who caused the fire in Gatlinburg? Many, if not most, of these incidents leave the confines of the managing agency and sweep out onto lands owned or managed by others. It is a sad state of affairs, the loss of life was quite avoidable. Obviously spent no time in the military so they didnt know how to field dress A cigarette and pack it out. On Oct. 9, a woman who was working at the Ripleys Aquarium smelled smoke and walked up to 745 Parkway Suite 4 to investigate. My husband told me our children would not be happy with us if we did that, so we decided to leave without returning to the house. Firefighters from Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge responded. In total GFD crews, in addition to, Pigeon Forge Fire Department, Sevierville Fire Department, Sevier County Ambulance Service and Pittman Center Fire Department assisted in extinguishing the blaze. 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. Many structures were lost- thankfully no lives. A mandatory evacuation should have been issued, at the latest, Monday morning, with reverse 911 calls, as well as loudspeaker equipped vehicles. it would not be the first time that political or other motivation caused biased reporting. I picked them up and came back home with plans of bringing truck back over mountain and filling it up because it was near empty. Instead simply took pictures on their phone, 3. 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. One indicator of drought and its effect on how wildfires burn is the Keetch-Byram Drought Index(KBDI). Its hard to see. We stopped at another neighbors house. That factor is the density of residential development, layout of roads, and approved building materials present in that area. Tom, I want to express to you how sorry I am to hear about the loss of your cabin, what you went through escaping the fire, what you have gone through since the fire and what you are facing. Even the Gatlinburg Fire Chief had been told on Sunday at 0900 that models had the fire hitting downtown Gatlinburg by Tuesday 1100. The learning system of resolution. if/when evacuation notice was given. We are excited to start new memories and get back on the trails. I only lost my house, but someone has to speak the truth about what did/didnt happen that day/night. They were asleep at the wheel. Suffice it to say betting against individual as well as class-action instruments being utilized against local and federal officials would be as unlikely as betting that the sun wont rise tomorrow. That mall is also rigidly enforced. I hope they end up being involved in the biggest lawsuit anyone has ever seen! Given the wind forecast, pre-evac notice should have gone out on Sunday, Monday morning at latest. I have been walking the woods around Gatlinburg a lot since the Fire. I do not remember her name. It goes for miles, Ive pushed as hard as I could straight down and only managed 1/10th mile an hour on the gps in a few such places. The fire resulted in the deaths of 14 people and more than $500 million in damage, with firefighting costs of more than $7 million. It's always sad to see the destructive forces of Mother Nature. A friend that owns a rental company there said that about 90% of the homes in the area which leave them 10% they can rent or sale. 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. Vincent Gabrielle, Knoxville News Sentinel. By the time we got to the Marshalls house it was 6:00 PM and they were watching the news. This fire burned for almost a week, before it exploded into Gatlinburg. Can we allow room for others to fail forward? Your reply well done! In Gatlinburg, smoke and fire caused the mandatory evacuation of downtown and surrounding . 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. Earlier on Tuesday, media reported that a man was arrested for setting three fires that spread into a 300-acre fire in. In late 2016, wildfires . Thank you for the timeline and the opportunity for comments. Damage was estimated at. Superintendent Cash says the NPS has no jurisdiction to issue evacuations for the City of Gatlinburg. They lost phone coverage but didnt activate the Motorola wide area radio system. On the night before I left for Branson, I had terrible nightmares of being caught in a forest fire in Branson. . The NPS investigation team has all this information and everything posted on Wildfire Today and a lot of info that was never made public. 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. All you left out was Howie Long jumping out of a plane on a motorcycle with a chainsaw running and you would have knocked that thing into last century! And each structure became much more of a threat than the spreading ground fire ever was. Our forest service guys have been very busy with hand efforts, running dozers in our hazardous terrain and with aircraft. I have seen local hiking pictures that appear to show two separate smoke columns on Saturday 11/26. This is a text book example of waiting for rain and not planning for WHAT IF! But very little if any fire suppression activity occurred until Monday, November 28. Not to mention all the fallen limbs on the ground beneath them. After action reports with ample opportunity for community input led to better pre-fire management and intra-agency coordination of resources. Lastly, I would after this last election year never ever put stake into social media as any sort of official news, witness accounts or other fact finding mission. Body found in rubble of Gatlinburg fire - wtvq.com During fire suppression efforts, crews found one person dead inside the structure. The governors promised investigation has yet to appear (if it ever will), but the National Parks investigation is proceeding and no locals are on that team. A stroke in 2011 left Akaka partially paralyzed and unable to speak but he didn't need words to express his joy to be reunited with it. Frederick County, MD tanker explosion leaves 1 dead; Shuts down part of Talk about finger pointing! I was in my cabin on 28 November and barely made it out alive. 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 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. I told Stanton I wanted him to drive our truck up to top of mountain behind house to get it away from house and out from under so many trees. 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. I realize the City of Gatlinburg is open and ready for business and business is booming, thats good for them but it doesnt help those of us that lost their home. Resources = $$$=taxes. Not because I am a teller of fortune. This lack of serious response is all too obvious. The People have been deceived with a vague and biased investigation regarding this particular bear incident. But fires are getting nastier everywhere and folks keep saying past fire history isnt as good a guide as it used to be. A spokesperson for the city said the Gatlinburg Fire Department was dispatched to the 700 block of Parkway in downtown Gatlinburg at 6:39 a.m. on October 9. By the time the troops were called in, it was too late. I saw Wyoming and Colorado engines being demobalized after containment. I think this is more often than not the case. The Tip Line is 888-653-0009. At the official Gatlinburg weather station recognized by the NWS 0.73 inch was recorded on Tuesday. 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. Four downtown Gatlinburg businesses are picking up the pieces, after a fire Sunday morning destroyed their building. On the evening of the fire, I was monitoring tornadic storms across northern Mississippi because my family were driving to GRSM posted Fire Information signs in the area explaining their monitoring strategy due to vertical cliffs, narrow rock ridges and steep drainages. On the map below, the fire is the small dot in the center surrounded by the yellow line. Yet if no one raises cain about it, things will be rebuilt with no regard for such safety factors. We listened to local TV news at home which reported voluntary evacuations for Mynatt Park after fire was reported in the Twin Creeks area. Investigators have determined that the fire was human-caused and are asking for information from anyone who has information about people or vehicles that were seen in the area that day. ATF, other agencies search for cause of blaze that claimed life of Love your neighbors, yes. Fire those managers! Like hell he did. We warned them about the approaching fire before turning the opposite direction to proceed on downtown. Suppression actions, especially backfires, causing way more damage to natural resources than the wildfire is doing., First rule of any structure fire or wildfire. He should loose his job and be prosecuted for this mess he created. Within a few days or week prior to this deadly fire I heard a local major Knoxville radio station broadcasting a satire bashing HRC, Obama, the Federal Government among a few other controversial things, and how the revolution has begun including the incitement of burning down the place, this Knoxville radio station followed this rant with songs whose lyrics tough-ted and instructed the starting of fires.