Tough questions like, Why did it take so long for community leaders to activate burn bans in spite of the extreme drought conditions, fuel loads, number of arson fires and the regional outbreak of fires, the social nature of this crime, and other related events. According to Public Information Officer Seth Butler, the Gatlinburg Fire Department and the Pigeon Forge Fire Department were dispatched to downtown Gatlinburg at 6:39 a.m. on Sunday, Oct.. 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. Many on that team are not NPS employees, but are highly experienced wildfire fighters. There could be falling trees. As a contractor I worked with a Dunes engine in Michigan MI years ago. The People have been deceived with a vague and biased investigation regarding this particular bear incident. At this time, Tennessee Bureau of Investigation officials were contacted, according to the report. Perhaps all the firefighters prior experience was giving them mental slides that were no longer valid given the conditions. We stopped long enough to make sure they saw the fire coming and proceeded on down the mountain. Resources = $$$=taxes. I would rather have someone on the job who has screwed up, erred and learned from the experience as I know that the chances of a repeat performance are lessened and for most learners they will progress forward with even better decision making skills. A year or two ago, there was a small fire on Rocky Spur on the Rainbow Falls Trail up Mt. I remember a news A day or so later where that fire chief of the Gatlinburg stated that they knew on Sunday that it was predicted the fire would hit Gatlinburg proper by 11 AM on Tuesday morning. This makes no logical sense. A true lackadaisical response. Neither the NPS nor the city wanted CNN cameras covering a mass evacuation of a town jam packed with tourists on Thanksgiving weekend. They were flying water drops on Sunday with the equipment available (National Guard choppers). Hindsight is 20/20 and of course much coulda woulda shoulda is understandable. Bob and Stanton snuck around back roads and made it in a few days earlier than most and found what we were fearing. Emergency crews were on the scene for 31 hours extinguishing the fire before the emergency demolition was requested. Numerous photos show a dramatic increase in smoke in the downtown area between 5 and 5:30 pm. Good point, Ms. Horton. Chile is nearly a third world nation. Personally, I have already started reconstruction on my cabin but the consensus on Chalet Village north which was 540 cabins and now stands only at 20 remaining Is that about 70% are not rebuilding for a variety of reasons . What good does it do to lynch those who are learning and gaining the very experience we expect and seek? This is how civilians, firefighters, personal property and extensive environmental damage results. What is these adults had taken immediate action to correct and intervene in this unsafe behavior by children. Considering the record of wind gusts between 5-6pm and that the fire had jumped US 441, NPS calling Gburg Fire Dept. A lot of chainsawing has been going on. Emotions do get the best of us. If this is the same Bob Stanton commenting here, then the bias is way too obvious. It was a very horrible dream and I had qualms about my trip before I arrived in Branson. 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. The fire burned 38,000 acres of state managed conservation areas and private timber lands. A true lackadaisical response. The Seiver County Medical Examiner's office identified the man as 54-year-old Joe Martin Bates, according to the City of Gatlinburg. There is room for all to be as important as the other, and hold all of these ideals up at the same time, to honor and to debate. Three people were killed and 14 others sent to area hospitals, Gatlinburg Fire Chief Greg Miller said Tuesday. What did City officials not understand about the approaching danger? Even this article seems to skirt around some of the issues and miss the depth of analysis it needs to effect meaningful change. Though the drought and winds were undoubtedly an act of God (Psalms 148:8; 1st Kings 17:1), NPS and other officials were not left ignorant. A couple of weeks after hearing no hardcore news from Knox News, I wrote the editor asking if the News was still doing hardcore investigation of the fire. Even the courts of law no longer put as heavy weight on personal testimony, as so much has been proven to so easily be manipulated and affected by a host of factors. The appearance of dead hemlock progression is astounding. 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. Deciding to keep air resources in reserve for initial attack on new starts rather than wash the fire off chimney tops was a good decision. Everyone should also know that this area is characterized by mountain laurel, in some areas nearby its so thick the only way through is on top it or if your lucky under on your belly. Hemlocks were mentioned in a number of daily updates on Inciweb because they are basically standing roman candles thanks to the spiral of limbs. I was afraid to go into Park with boys. I believe God was speaking to me early in the day on 28th and I am grateful for the ability He blessed me with to get out of Gatlinburg early.. Yes, there is backside-covering going on. It is very hard and slow to navigate through laurel stands and the thick Tennesee Barbed Wire Briar patches. Vincent Gabrielle, Knoxville News Sentinel. As long as there are watchdogs for the truth such yourself, it will be hard to bury. Special interest groups and other self serving human beings with other priorities cut budgets. Out of all the issues evolving around negligence and what could have been done, etc. Thank you, Bill. Though Im missing the boat a little here, my questioning is still legitimate being that any managed ignited fire can still get out of control adding to an existing wildfire or creating one. Monday I was surprised to look at the Knoxville News and see nothing about evacuation notices. Many, if not most, of these incidents leave the confines of the managing agency and sweep out onto lands owned or managed by others who had NO input into the original incident management strategy. I was near Gatlinburg until Saturday prior to the fire, visiting my family. In addition thorough explanations could have been given for the reasons for calling for the Voluntary Evacuation and could have been published. Ive noted the contrast between how the Incident Management Teams approached the fires compared to the NPS. 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. 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. He also raked as many leaves as he could from around our cabin. To successfully allow a fire to burn for a long period of time requires VERY skilled personnel and luck. 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. But if park management had been spending budget on fire management capabilities equal to those sites there would likely be criticism of that. There is a marked increase in smoke and decreasing visibility due to the smoke. 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. Fourteen people lost their lives. 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. That didnt work out. He wanted us to pack and leave. I guess they are helping the people they always help and the rest of us are out of luck. Until 1 p.m. sustained speeds were 4 to 6 mph with gusts at 12 to 19 mph. It was so blatant and irresponsible of the media station to broadcast in this manner especially under the current circumstances. They did too little, too late. View all posts by Bill Gabbert. We need a growing pool of resources who have gained knowledge and wisdom hat can be applied to future events, not to lessen the pool by throwing out those who failed but are not a failure. The leaves that had hung on into late Fall because of lack of winds and rain for months began to rain from the trees in copious amounts and there were leaf funnels forming and it was hard as we ran from cabin to car loading Abram and Lady. 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. We are facing some very large problems around our globe and in our own home communities, that will require some out of the box thinking and collaboration, some tough questions, and a lot of personal accountability review and growth. They probably feel they are fortunate and safe because they will not speak out on the topic until the criminal charges are completed against the two youth that perpetrated this fire but they would be foolish to do so as time just continues to churn the anger. With that said: were NPS officials aggressive enough in seriously emphasizing to Gatlinburg officials to start preparing for mandatory evacuations? Most events have a series of issues that contribute to the outcome, the more catastrophic the event the greater the number of contributing factors. Fire behavior is predictable, based on things such as mentioned in this article; weather, terrain and fuels. This come from long time residents, The prices we have been getting should be considered price gouging because that is exactly what it is. etc. National Park Service says never push a slower friend down when escaping a bear, Knoxville utilities crews work to restore power after intense storms, Missing elderly Knoxville woman last seen at hospital, police say, Vols drop to 5-seed in SEC Tournament after falling at Auburn, 79-70. fire Sunday morning destroyed their building. When we got to the bottom of the mountain, we ran into the Sevier County Electric crew where the road was blocked. Sunday, four days after the fire started, was the first time that any firefighting aircraft were used on the fire, Ms. Schroer said. I learned that it is extremely difficult to manage, rather than suppress, a wildland fire for an extended period of time. Fire managers brought in resources from all over the country. I am a property owner in the Lake of the Ozarks, in Missouri, and oddly enough, had just returned from a trip to Branson, Missouri. 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. The fire resulted in the deaths of 14 people and more than $500 million in damage, with firefighting costs of more than $7 million. At 2 a.m. Monday the wind speeds recorded at Indian Grave began increasing and the direction became more consistently out of the south and southwest. I particularly liked Sharon Jensens after action summary. Take a look at the Chimney Tops Fire of Nov 14th, 2016 and you really might begin to question what really went wrong here. However, when adequate risk analysis, proactive contingency planning and decision making, real time fire behavior simulations predicting possible disastrous outcomes, humans may have a much better chance of containing, or controlling, or herding, or managing or all-out suppressing an unwanted or unplanned ignition. Some of those GSMNP personnel were trained out west and know how fast a wildfire spreads in high winds. The massive Gatlinburg wildfires, which began in November, caused the deaths of 14 people, injured 175 others and destroyed homes and towns all around eastern Tennessee. 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. Stanton wanted to go but I was afraid to for several reasons. I can picture all Kelly you are right, NO Help from City or County in the clean up..SOS home owners responsible for all.. This was part of our retirement plan and now all we have left is a lot, we lost a lot of money that we will never be able to recuperate. The aptly named Fire Cherry, Beech and Mtn. Just like the Mayor of Amity in Jaws, they didnt want the tourists to see this much reality. Who ever was in charge should loose their job!!! 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. After working full time in wildland fire for 33 years, he continues to learn, and strives to be a Student of Fire. I was on the Party Rock fire in NC and our IMET was predicting that storm event 3-4 days before it happened. Spirit Airlines . 119K views 4 months ago GATLINBURG Many people get worried when they hear the words Gatlinburg and Fire in the same sentence. LeConte is going to be fine. Report: Gatlinburg fire caused $7 million in damages. Many structures were lost- thankfully no lives. This is a developing story. And . I was on the phone w them that Mon. I can feel for the service providers and the devastated fire victims. 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.. Frankly people should lose their jobs and fault should be placed on their shoulders. Great info/synopsis of the Gatlinburg/Sevier county wildfires. At 3:00PM I convinced my husband to call the Gatlinburg Fire Dept. I only lost my house, but someone has to speak the truth about what did/didnt happen that day/night. 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. One or two of those employees fall to their death because they shouldnt have been there in the first place. He actually wrote me back on Christmas Eve, of all things, to tell me that they will keep after it. 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. It's always sad to see the destructive forces of Mother Nature. The miracle is that more people did not People that I know said that not implementing fire suppression is exactly what they should have done, so we can agree to disagree. a wind and weather event like they got, that resulted in fire spread that resulted the the state TEMA command center to have to relocate in the middle of the incident gives a picture of what they were dealing with. Remember GSMNP is not Yosemite or Yellowstone with extreme fire behavior and a history of problems. If they do work as a pair, do they set multiple fires in the same area? Me, like thousands of Buckeyes make the five-hour trek to Tennessee for family [] We listened to local TV news at home which reported voluntary evacuations for Mynatt Park after fire was reported in the Twin Creeks area. There were emergency vehicles blocking Motor Nature Trail. As my husband was carrying things to the car at 5:00PM, a white SUV came by. I heard a comment that people have the use common sense. There is only one check point access at East Parkway (Hwy. Many citizens whom I spoke with had never heard the terms red flag alert and in absence of the term, were not aware of the situations that would lead to such a designation or where to turn to find information on wildfires. Or in steep cliff terrain it just isnt going to happen, no one on the fire. I have for years pointed out to my students the dead hemlock all over the mountain. Who was responsible for Gatlinburg fire? May all the people find peace and forgiveness in the midst of this storm. I would like to express that there are sincere and dedicated folks working for the National Park Service. Your are correct; and we all pray and hope for the community to get back on their feet again. Conspiracy, no. A safefy plan for people in the event of the many natural threats, would have to be determined ahead of time though because that level of decision-making rarely occurs in the face of imminent danger. If their destination is not lit, they have to land there no later than 30 minutes after sunset. 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. 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. 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? Fire crews were dispatched to a structure fire around 6:30. It now seems obvious that no housing development should have only road in and out. One question I have not seen asked is why any adult would have witnessed children playing with matches and lighting fires especially under the obvious conditions in this situation and 1. not taken immediate action 2. I was in my cabin on 28 November and barely made it out alive. Any person involved in any sort of firefighting/fire ecology/fire control/fire management profession learns these basic fire physic scientific principals from day oneeither from formal training or through hands on fire behavior observations . The fire on Sunday caused extensive damage to a block of businesses and left some with only charred debris, news outlets reported, citing a statement from the city. 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. All without the but why reflection, cause and effect analysis, drill down technique and the inter-relationship effect. Before the forest fires in the southeast this fall, I didnt know very much about wildfire fighting management (other than a bit from a mountain rescue EMT friend in Colorado and a friend that helps with prescribed burns for Georgia Conservancy). They found plenty of resources when they realize they were going to be burning all the money making business is down on Monday. On Friday, Gatlinburg city officials released a report detailing the downtown fire on Oct. 9. Most of those people got out of the pre-evac zone just to be safe and watch the fire at a distance. Basically telling the press, the public and the injured families to go to hell. How did all the downtown businesses know to close and send their employees home, but not one word of warning was given to homeowners/residents? I have seen local hiking pictures that appear to show two separate smoke columns on Saturday 11/26. I am positive that for anyone who gives of themselves to protect and serve will forever be haunted by that far more than anyone of us can expect to hold them accountable by lynching. The NPS, IMO, did not take an aggressive stance on this fire, and that is usually the case with them. Also. Sunset that day was at 5:21 p.m. which would have allowed them to drop on the fire until 5:51 p.m., 30 minutes after sunset. The cause of the fire remains under investigation. Crews working a Gatlinburg structure fire that began early Sunday morning discovered a body. Over 3000 wildfires received Initial Attack in November in the southern Appalachians, many of which were still very active when Chimney Tops 2 started. Drought, fall winds, fuel moistures that havent recovered in months, what part of this disaster was a surprise. Cleanup continued Tuesday, with crews piling up rubble near Traffic Light 6 on the Gatlinburg Pkwy. A good example of the kind of human factors that continue to get in the way of better preparedness and change for the good is the backlash in which one reporter from NC received when she asked tough questions of some officials. The fire could have been stopped over the weekend if proper procedures had been followed. 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 . 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. Shortly after he left, he called my husband to tell him that the road between our house and downtown Gatlinburg was blocked by a crew from Sevier County Electric. Thus, private, State, or other agencies get left holding the bag, as it were. I am thankful so many are not only opening their eyes here, but taking action and questioning.
50g Uncooked Quinoa Calories,
Vermont Homes For Sale By Owner,
Articles W
who caused the gatlinburg fires?
You must be mason power recliner by broyhill to post a comment.