I just hope, like Jeannine, that fire managers can learn from this tragedy because we really need the tool of prescribed fire in the tool box. There was a tree down on road out but we were able to drive around it. The helicopter worked until it had to refuel and then two other Type 1 helicopters took its placeuntil dark. We do have insurance however based on the prices for clean up there it wont go far enough to build back. With that all happening before lunch. Finally, the Superintendent has the power to call up all the resources which were available. She replied, Mrs. But the condition of the fuel was also important since it happenedduring what the National Weather Service (NWS) calls exceptional drought conditions. 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. The mayor and many fireman lost their homes and businesses, not to mention the deaths. 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. All downtown sidewalks reopened as permanent fencing around the building was installed by the property owner following the fire. Fire behavior is predictable, based on things such as mentioned in this article; weather, terrain and fuels. I appreciate how articulately you described your thoughts. Branson is built into the mountainous forests of south-central Missouri, is a resort town, and a retirement community and entertainment venue. 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. I dont think so they were the people in charge not any of us and they didnt do their job. In a time in which the NPS and all other government agencies are under attack and certain factions are seeking to replace all our government agencies with private for profit industry I would not ignore the possibility of anything. Both east and west forks of the Pigeon River. Many on that team are not NPS employees, but are highly experienced wildfire fighters. Gatlinburg fire burns downtown 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). I can only hope that the actions are being undertaken somewhere and by the decision-makers and leaders to think and act differently. Youre right change is hard to come by. I have a close friend on IMT in southern CO so have some familiarity with the process. We applied for the Dollywood assistance and FEMA and can get neither, Im not sure who they are helping but for us and our neighbors we arent getting anything. It is the duty of the people and Congress to maintain and voice our concerns and opinions to where check and balances work. At about 5:20 p.m. the fire was discoverednear the top of a steep hill called Chimney Tops not far from where another fire occurred about a week before. But if park management had been spending budget on fire management capabilities equal to those sites there would likely be criticism of that. True, our firefighters and 1st responders put their lives in harms way and we should respect them; and yet distinguish these folks from officials who are undoubtedly making bad calls/decisions. Aircraft dropping water or fire retardant on a fire cannot put it out. I have been on both sides of that equation before and still real-ling from my own losses that will negatively affect me and my family for life, because no one took the time to question or look into the story presented to them by those authorities in charge. 1,000 feet of rise / 0.2 mile (1,056 feet) is a slope of 94.7%, not 77%. The identities of the three killed have not been released . I just assumed that others would be leaving Gatlinburg out of concerns similar to mine. On-the-ground fire suppression activity took place Monday when firefighters took defensive action to protect structures at a nearby GRSM picnic area. Maybe a second year of drought? Until 1 p.m. sustained speeds were 4 to 6 mph with gusts at 12 to 19 mph. Bill thank you the excellent i sight and info that is hard to find publicly. So far, this week's tragic Tennessee wildfires have caused at least seven deaths, injured at least 50 more, and damaged or destroyed over 700 structures, a good portion of them in the city of Gatlinburg. We strive to use real facts, not alternative facts, on Wildfire Today. What about helicopters dumping water? If Im not mistaken, there is a Bob Stanton that was a former NPS Director. It is good to question everything, all is not as it appears. Bill, correct me if I am wrong, but aircraft should be on the ground a half hour after sunset? My nightmare depicted more what happened in Gatlinburg than so far in Branson. All together this was the absolute worse place to have a fire at almost the worst time, save it was lucky to not have been a few weeks earlier. They didnt want CNN down there declaring their tourist town a death trap. 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. 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. These people both the successful along with the ones who erred and experienced failure, courageously risked being vulnerable in order to help others. Anyone who has toured the hillsides where most of the homes that were destroyed would know immediately how difficult evacuations would be. On Monday, December 5, the Incident Management Team (IMT) on the Chimney Tops 2 Fire that burned from Great Smoky Mountains National Park (GRSM) into the Gatlinburg area reported that it has . With the drought conditions this would have acted as a flammable liquid would with explosive ignition and then been carried easily by the prevailing strong winds. That night after we arrived home we started getting text from friends showing fires at the Park Vista Hotel, then one from our neighbors across the street, he lives in Knoxville called and said he had been there at 5:30 P.M. this was on the 28th and when he left it was smokey but everything was still fine. As the crow flies, thats not far from Gatlinburg and Ive heard of and read about how quickly wildfires spread and how far reaching they can be under dry conditions from drought. But, that team is there to give future corrective actions, not to formulate lawsuits. None of our fires escaped, in part because we had some very smart, very experienced people in key positions. In response to Jeanne in regard to Kelly Morgans comments: It is the duty of the American people to honor and respect and obey the Laws of the Land unless government becomes a dictatorship to basic rights and freedoms. Gatlinburg businesses look to rebuild after massive fire Damage was estimated at more than $500 million, according to Sevier County Mayor Larry Waters. But all sitting back and doing nothing to help. I visited Gatlinburg on a trip to Asheville NC, in 1980. 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. What are they doing? There are other variables that are of concern here too, such as area resources that are already low and being taxed by the sheer number of fires occurring in the region, the growth of urban interface among the eastern forests, rugged mountainous terrain and economic restraints. I can only say that I had no peace at all whatsoever after the first word I heard of the terrible fire there .. I did blast him; and though I do have the utmost respect for his firefighting endeavors; it it disheartening to see someone with this apparent degree of experience claim this Chimney Tops Fire look at both fires was unpredictable. This article shows NPS was concerned by and notified of impending high winds. I feel sad for everyone involved. Maybe within the next year, well see some kind of progress come together, said Neddo. I felt it urgent to get out of the woods. So property owners are left to deal with everything and if we had the power we would have done something like worrying the crap out of all of them until action was taken. I loved the area, the town, homes, everything. I particularly liked Sharon Jensens after action summary. Were here to rally and support those people until they can get back up on their feet, said Laura Rippetoe of the Gatlinburg Inn. Death toll from Tenn. wildfires rises to 14 - CBS News We are emotional beings, we feel and we have the capability to think. I was on the phone w them that Mon. The wind remained at moderate strength on Wednesday with gusts decreasing from 37 at 3 a.m. to the lower teens by the end of the day. Ive not had a chance to hike post-fire areas in the mountains yet to see fires effect on dead hemlocks, but what Henry said about dead stumps burning into the ground looking like a volcano rings true with what Ive witnessed in mountain forest areas that burned decades ago. It is unfortunate that sometimes a few seek to blame someone so quickly that they miss the opportunity to really get to the root of the causes for those issues in the first place. 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. 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. Whose else is there? I told him there wasnt when I got there at 5 oclock but I could not even see driveways on the way up. I was on the Party Rock fire in NC and our IMET was predicting that storm event 3-4 days before it happened. Jody, you have said well what Ive wanted to say from my impressions made after the fire about this tragic situation. Not because I am a teller of fortune. What is these adults had taken immediate action to correct and intervene in this unsafe behavior by children. 1 dead in Gatlinburg fire that affected travel to Smokies Yes, some the ridges connecting to chimney-tops had dead hemlock stands. What Caused the Gatlinburg Fire of 2016? Here's the Real Story 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. If an aircraft will be en route to a lit helibase or airport, they can drop 30 minutes after sunset then fly to the lit facility. That didnt happen here. Will there be an independent, non-federal agency, through,unbiased, unedited final incident management and serious accident investigation? (PETER PARKS/AFP via Getty Images) Chan estimated the insurance claim could . The report said the fire was an accident and caused around $7 million in damages. It means they eliminated natural causes, such as lightning and volcano eruptions. That seems to be confirmation that the fire had crossed 441 early in the day. When human death is involved, there should be accountability, even if there is unintentional negligence. This isnt finger pointing its the simple facts of the entire situation like it or not! Kelly you are right, NO Help from City or County in the clean up..SOS home owners responsible for all.. 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. Damage was estimated at. Of course, the city of Im thankful to be tuned in. Thought among the locals is that officials didnt want to lose the post-holiday weekend crowd and revenue. She saw a fire and called 911. This is how the devastating Gatlinburg wildfire erupted overnight Who was responsible for Gatlinburg fire? Period. The more we let our selves be vulnerable and courageous in the face of tough situations, the more chance that we have that we will fall, and we will; we all will at some point if we take that risk to be brave and courageous. This is as far as this subject needs to go; for the objective of this site is in regard to wildfire. Yes. Over 130 sustained injuries, and 1,684 structures have been damaged or destroyed. That didnt work out. People need their jobs, and we all act based on the limited information, training and experience that we have and hopefully rely on others who have diverse backgrounds to supplement where we may lack. 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. That is when I said to myself Where the hell is TEMA?. I think anyone that is from this area could see this could be a very dangerous fire from the first day!! 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. 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. 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. An ongoing lawsuit against the National Park Service over its handling of the 2016 Gatlinburg Wildfire is on hold as a federal judge considers a motion to dismiss the suit. Special interest groups and other self serving human beings with other priorities cut budgets. You are reading this like most folks with common sense and a little analytical process, being all the data as you stated isnt on the table. they may be using too wide a brush to place blame. The Bob Stanton that has been commenting on this thread is NOT the former director of the NPS. In turn, the IMT teams greatly appreciated the community support given by the effected areas, such as throwing a free Thanksgiving dinner for the thousands of fire fighters far away from their families. Photos: Fire in Gatlinburg, Tennessee | Photo Galleries | herald The decisions that worked made us heroes, and those that did not changed us if we were allowed that opportunity. I can picture all Emergency crews were on the scene for 31 hours extinguishing the fire before the emergency demolition was requested. NPS officials are looking to avoid tort liability claims, plan & simple. Amazingly, some locals have whined about Knox News and Wildfire Today pointing out facts and timelines while ignoring the fact that it was Congress that cut the National Forest and National Park budgets. It was probably 4:45 by this time. On Sunday when GSMNP called in helicopter water drops, there were 3 fire tanker planes sitting on the runway 20 minutes away in Chattanooga (covered in Wildfire Today). One Person Dead After Downtown Gatlinburg Fire Sunday Obviously spent no time in the military so they didnt know how to field dress A cigarette and pack it out. It was Congress that adjourned for the holidays without passing a bill to fund forest fire fighting efforts. Most of us are hopeful the two young man responsible for causing this fire will be severely punished however after all of the expert testimony to not only the Knoxville news Sentinel times what other periodicals claiming gross mishandling of the beginning of the Chimney Tops 2 fire by the forestry service as well as the Gatlinburg fire department I am certain that the Philadelphia lawyer that they have hired will use this in their defense and I would not bet that they will get a much lighter sentence as a result . Copyright 2022 WVLT. The GRSM person that requested the Spot wrote: Concerned about ridgetop winds with the coming front. Also. Excellent information and supporting documentation. You bet you were. And we were lucky. 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. They are just as clandestine of a secret society as the city officials of Gatlinburg and Sevier County. About 20 years ago, I hiked to Albright Grove, an old-growth hemlock forest near Greenbrier. The fire, which was reported at 6:39 a.m. Sunday in the 700 block of Parkway,. So we can learn by others successes and failures but we must also not hang our hats on them either, because the story is as individual and unique as there are an infinite number of variables. The wildfire began burning in a remote location of the park (Chimney Tops) in steep terrain with vertical cliffs and narrow rocky ridges, making access to the wildfire area . it would not be the first time that political or other motivation caused biased reporting. The further fire growth part was more accurate than they realized at the time. Like I said this is like so many tragic events, a chain reaction of events that all contributed to a disastrous outcome, because of actions and inactions that were not questioned or corrected at many steps of the way. 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 bet someone of you one here would sing a different tune if you loss a big chunk of your retirement because of someone incompetence. Those strong southerly winds had been forecast a good two days before the fire broke through into the developed areas. ), lack of knowledge of alternative communication systems (the Motorola area wide emergency radio system installed last year). Report: Gatlinburg fire caused $7 million in damages. She said smoke had been super heavy. 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. I heard a comment that people have the use common sense. The next morning we werent allowed to go check on our house because of fires still burning and impassable roads. Some of those GSMNP personnel were trained out west and know how fast a wildfire spreads in high winds. We are excited to start new memories and get back on the trails. Watch This is Now, live from the Hawaii News Now Digital Center, weekdays on KHNL at 12 p.m. and on all of our streaming platforms. 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. What Caused The Gatlinburg Fire - BikeHike Why did they wait until Monday to do a voluntary a evacuation or were the city father is involved in the decision not to panic the thousands and thousands of people still there for the Thanksgiving holiday. 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.. All the guy in the truck told us was that they had dug a fire line and were told to wait here. Then another large red pickup came down from Turkey Nest Road and stopped in front of us. GATLINBURG, Tenn. (WVLT) - On Friday, Gatlinburg city officials released a report detailing the downtown fire on Oct. 9 that killed one person and injured another.. Well said, the terrain here is different than a lot of places, even out west. Then, a few days later they had the full timeline article and info about the NPS not following its own protocols. Travelers are urged to avoid the area at this time. The report said the fire was an . 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. I know for a fact that all humans are not as tuned into Nature as others. The fire broke out around 6:30 a.m. at the mall on the Parkway in downtown Gatlinburg. Fire kills 1, destroys businesses in downtown Gatlinburg, Tenn Our forest service guys have been very busy with hand efforts, running dozers in our hazardous terrain and with aircraft. 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. The city said crews working the structure fire that . I got out of the car and walked up to the side of the pickup truck. If I had even been in the bathroom or downstairs I wouldve died . GRSM firefighters spotted the new fire as they returned from responding to a report of a vehicle fire. This data from Indian Grave was not too far offthe forecast issued the day before. It is very hard and slow to navigate through laurel stands and the thick Tennesee Barbed Wire Briar patches. (Originally published at 11:04 a.m. MST November 23 . While I had the privilege is having dinner with the NPS director at a prescribed fire conference I am just a retired rx fire practitioner. Two Hawaii police departments are making moves to beef up incentives as recruiting efforts grow more competitive. Gatlinburg Fire Cause: Who Started the Wildfire? | Heavy.com If this is the same Bob Stanton commenting here, then the bias is way too obvious. GATLINBURG, Tennessee -- The charges have been dropped against two teens who were accused of starting the wildfires in Gatlinburg last fall. What the fire victims need is non-biased experts to analyze the BACKFIRES that the NPS claims they ignited to protect NPS structures. Henry, do you know the effect of the typical southeastern forest ground fires on the hemlock adelgid? 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.

Delta County, Mi Mugshots, Coastal Credit Union Music Park Vip Box, Ics Trust Company Distribution, Articles W