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. This openness which allows for both expression of feeling and diversity of thought and ideas will be what drives our ability to fix the complex issues we are faced with, and to grow as human individuals, groups and nations. 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. Here is a question & answer from Bill interviewing Tom Nichols on Wildfire Today: One of the more common errors in judgment you have seen on fires? What is these adults had taken immediate action to correct and intervene in this unsafe behavior by children. The steepness here is epic, the only way out of valleys this steep is straight down or up, your lucky not to hit a waterfall. Yes, good points Jody. I have been walking the woods around Gatlinburg a lot since the Fire. I turned on tv to see if there were warnings of any sort. At the official Gatlinburg weather station recognized by the NWS 0.73 inch was recorded on Tuesday. Jon Binhammer had an excellent point about the hemlocks. In my opinion there is more blood on the hands of the NPS, Gatlinburg city and fire officials and Sevier County politicians than those kids. Vincent Gabrielle, Knoxville News Sentinel. Fire managers brought in resources from all over the country. 865-637-2442. At least seven people have died and dozens have been hospitalized in wildfires in Tennessee that have ravaged a popular tourist town and forced thousands from their homes. Very well said Tommy. This would explain why they are all covering for each other. Gatlinburg businesses look to rebuild after massive fire. 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. Neitherwas enough rain to halt the drought, of course, nor was it enough to have an extended effect on the the Chimney Tops 2 Fire. 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. It predicted wind gusts out of the south Monday morning of 25 mph, increasing atnoonto30 mph and to 40 mph by 6 p.m. The fire was approximately 8 acres in size, according to GRSM. During fire suppression efforts, crews found one person dead inside the structure. Fourteen people lost their lives. The electricity goes out almost everytime there is a high wind. Here is one interview I gave to a Cincinnati station 2-3 days after the fire. Thanks! It was Congress that adjourned for the holidays without passing a bill to fund forest fire fighting efforts. Officials identified Robert A. Hejny, 63, who was found at Traveler's Motel in Gatlinburg. I had concerns about traffic once we got down there. Five days is a generous amount of time to request and receive firefighters. Good comments by all. Sandra, I agree. 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. But. I began to notice people smoking while driving their vehicles when I would be out and about and they would flick burning embers out windows and sometimes throw cigarettes out windows. This would help the owners defray some costs so they can rebuild. Even this article seems to skirt around some of the issues and miss the depth of analysis it needs to effect meaningful change. Whether a tornado, hurricane or natural disaster, it weighs on your psyche. They got info from NPS about the fire spreading. I have my own opinion on what I would do if I ruled the world but I can guarantee you two people that would be looking for work very soon . Work for the NPS and see their Fire-is-not-our-mission outlook on fires and know that they will not be a aggressive enough, will not have seasoned fire staff, will not allow their staffs go out on fires and get the necessary experience. I certainly agree there are definitely consequences for our actions, for some more than others. 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. Who was responsible for Gatlinburg fire? Report: Gatlinburg fire caused $7 million in damages Gatlinburg businesses look to rebuild after massive fire My wife and I hiked to Alum Cave Bluffs Saturday, Nov. 26, while the fire was small up on the Chimneys. I told him to go up and park in driveway close to where I wanted to leave the truck and that I would drive truck up. We, the public, have to be activists for our own safety, the very safety that public officials claim to protect. I saw Wyoming and Colorado engines being demobalized after containment. 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. Under ideal conditions they can temporarily slow the spread, which may be effective if firefighters on the ground can move in quickly totake advantage of the short termchange in fire behavior by constructing firelines, stopping the spread at that location. Holding the responsible people accountable is the only course of action that honors what was lost. All without the but why reflection, cause and effect analysis, drill down technique and the inter-relationship effect. We stopped long enough to make sure they saw the fire coming and proceeded on down the mountain. 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 . Well said, the terrain here is different than a lot of places, even out west. This should be placed firmly on the shoulders of the Park Service, Cassius Cash, Superintendent and the City and County. I am astounded at the amount of information, expertise, warning, and awareness of imminent danger was present and available in this situation. I said at the time thatvwas crazy, evac. Obviously spent no time in the military so they didnt know how to field dress A cigarette and pack it out. I can only say that I had no peace at all whatsoever after the first word I heard of the terrible fire there .. It was about 11:30AM when we got to downtown Gatlinburg, where I took photos of the heavy on the Parkway in town. The winds were blowing from the Chimneys more down the mountain than up toward LeConte. The Knox News timeline alone has enough info for several indictments. Not action to punish or lay blame, but to facilitate learning that changes actions. I am in my late 60s and have never seen such a drought, or such low stream levels. The high winds were forecasted on the 25th, 2016. Maybe within the next year, well see some kind of progress come together, said Neddo. notice should have been at 5-6 given the wind. The wildfires caused millions of dollars in damage. 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. Drought, fall winds, fuel moistures that havent recovered in months, what part of this disaster was a surprise. With that said: were NPS officials aggressive enough in seriously emphasizing to Gatlinburg officials to start preparing for mandatory evacuations? 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). The Championship side, who are 19th in the table, said there have been no injuries. By 4:00PM the wind was getting stronger and we were not getting any updated information from local TV news. The fire broke out around 6:30 a.m. at the mall on the Parkway in downtown Gatlinburg. James, thank you for that compliment! NPS manager Cassius Cash said the NPS didnt have the authority to order an evacuation (how about recommending a pre-evacuation status so the public was ready to evacuate if needed?). 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. There are a lot of excellent experienced fire management staff working for the Park Service. 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. 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. Without sufficient safe zones being created in advance each road was easily blocked either by fire or debris. Why hasnt the NPS mentioned this first fire of the 14th? I told him my home was on fire and he said they were evacuating everyone,then. You are among several Gatlinburg residents that posted local officials told them that everything was OK as late as 5:30 and there was no evacuation notice. We had a contractor there working on improvements to our house. Money and CNN. Crews working a Gatlinburg structure fire that began early Sunday morning discovered a body. How many sorties could those planes do in an single day even if they had been deployed on Even Friday?? Ive noted the contrast between how the Incident Management Teams approached the fires compared to the NPS. My husband and I were at our house in Gatlinburg, just north of the Park Vista, on the night of the fire. He asked them how or who we could contact to get emergency information. All weekend, my husband and daughter followed the fire on the Chimney Tops 2 facebook page NPS had established. IMT issued pre-evacuation notices in GA and NC each time they saw cold-front winds approaching that could would threaten communities. Asked if I knew if there were any other people down in that area. China Bazaar, Puckers Sports Bar, Cafe 420,. Thanks again for this forum. 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. I was on the Party Rock fire in NC and our IMET was predicting that storm event 3-4 days before it happened. Will some folks be held accountable for actions or non-actions related to this wildfire incident? This is the path to healing, and the way to light. We could smell smoke from the fires in NC for a month before the fire began on Chimney Tops. When I came out of dr. office, which is located on Middle Creek close to hospital, the atmosphere was eerie. Would it not be more beneficial to hold accountability by insuring that analysis of cause and effect and learning take place; that change is done where change is needed? My writing comes from the heart! Authorities have not identified the victim or . Location field must contain 'city, state' or a zip code to perform a radius search (e.g., Denver, CO or 46122).City and state must be separated by a comma followed by a space (e.g., Houston, TX) The status of individual structures in the Gatlinburg area can be found at arcgiscom. Report: Gatlinburg fire caused $7 million in damages. The city said crews working the structure fire that . But instead great risks were taken through basic inaction and the consequences were disastrous. The earlier fire on the hill was named Chimney Tops hence the name Chimney Tops 2 for the new blaze. One of the owners of the impacted businesses called a contractor to demolish a damaged portion of the building. It is very hard and slow to navigate through laurel stands and the thick Tennesee Barbed Wire Briar patches. The report concluded that the fire was an accident; however, officials said the investigation was limited because the building was not structurally sound. The cause of the fire remains under investigation by the GFD, Gatlinburg Police Department, and the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation. I knew him when he was at Indiana Dunes National Lake Shore. Click here. Oh thats right they did but it was after everything burned! When you see more of them completely charred but living trees seemingly untouched that is a sign of both underground burning and how much water the living trees still possessed. So this has affected everyone in the area in one form or another. The fire had spread to Mynatt Park in Gatlinburg, and people were being evacuated from neighborhood there. Published: Oct. 11, 2022 at 5:31 PM PDT GATLINBURG, Tenn. (WVLT) - Four downtown Gatlinburg businesses are picking up the pieces after a fire Sunday morning destroyed their building. Civilians are dead, millions of dollars of personal property destroyed, millions of dollars were spent on containing the wildfirethe rains/snow finally suppressed it. On November 23 when the fire was discovered the KBDI was 599, Molly Schroer, a spokesperson for the IMT told us. So many unanswered questions? You certainly got it right when you said that sometimes government does not listen and it takes a loud voice. The Chimneys functionally act as the head of a canyon leading directly to downtown Gatlinburg. If that was the case, then they had to be fully aware that the fire was going to come down the mountain and burn not only NPS structures, but Gatlinburg structures as well? Just like the Mayor of Amity in Jaws. 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. 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. Tunica, MS, from our area near Kansas City, to arrive late evening, that day, in Tunica. is TEMA didnt have the training. On Friday, Gatlinburg city officials released a report detailing the downtown fire on Oct. 9. We stopped beside the truck and rolled down our window. 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. Where was all the HELP TO PUT THIS FIRE OUT A WHEN IT STARTED????