You certainly got it right when you said that sometimes government does not listen and it takes a loud voice. 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. It was the hottest summer we ever felt. This should be placed firmly on the shoulders of the Park Service, Cassius Cash, Superintendent and the City and County. I convinced my husband to drive back toward our house to see if we could see the fire. I was nervous about it. Now I can only imagine what children or adults with issues might have gleaned from this message being broadcast. Theres no guarantees that putting a couple hotshot crews with good air support on that fire earlier could have prevented this tragedy, but that would have been more defensible. Our Gatlinburg Inn was built on family and community. 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. But, that team is there to give future corrective actions, not to formulate lawsuits. Not just putting out the fires, but restoring the forest and trails afterward. Situational awareness to current and predicted variables, as well as the potential of possibility is key. He and the other NPS staff there regularly went on out of state assignments. 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. I said at the time thatvwas crazy, evac. Below is the stateof access to the fire area, as reported by the IMT: The National Park is closed from the Gatlinburg Entrance to Smokemont near Oconaluftee (US 441, Newfound Gap) and Little River Road from Sugarlands Visitor Center to Townsend. I told him my home was on fire and he said they were evacuating everyone,then. Thanks for the legwork. Officials identified Robert A. Hejny, 63, who was found at Traveler's Motel in Gatlinburg. Thank-you Bill for your through and in depth analysis of this wildfires chain-of events. It is very steep terrain, I would estimate about a 65 degree incline, but it is not easy to fall to your death there. 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. By the time we got to the Marshalls house it was 6:00 PM and they were watching the news. 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. But instead great risks were taken through basic inaction and the consequences were disastrous. Not because I am a teller of fortune. Thank all of you. The IMT reported that the fire had not increased in size over the previous 24 hours and was still listed at 17,006 acres. At 10AM we drove to Sevierville to buy more materials (to eventually add to the bonfire). 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. Brush fires spread across multiple counties this afternoon in Southwest Florida due to high winds. But I believe there is a fourth element of fire behavior prediction and that is the element of situational awareness. But from what I have read the failure in this situation was in following procedure, so what can be added to have averted this fire and its terrible deadly consequences? Some of the drainages where the managers hoped to stop the fire were a half mile away. Fire-wanted or unwanted- is not a warm and fuzzy abstract thing it is often portrayed in todays media and society to play around with. I am broken-hearted over it .. Fires in the Great. A little later the local TV news reported the fire had crossed the road and was headed up the mountain behind the Park Vista. But outright blame? I can hear it now, hasnt the NPS learned anything in the past 10-20 yrs? I hope they can train more local governments how to handle big wildfire situations. 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 are A lot of cheap seats in the arena filled with people who never venture onto the floor. May God look out for all of you in your time of loss. The immediate flash of ground clutter was followed by the much slower burning of the dead and down trees and stumps. 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 .. 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 was south of Gatlinburg. Finding out about the fire has hurt me almost as much as it did the locals. On Monday November 28 it recorded wind gusts in that part of the state at46 to 60 mph, and a 76 mph gust on Wednesday. How about that for arm chair quarter backing. Those with information are urged to contact the Tennessee Arson Hotline at 1-800-762-3017 or the GFD at 865-436-5112. Just the mechanics of this devastating wildfire without any editorial comments. NPS officials are looking to avoid tort liability claims, plan & simple. FEMA did say they would give us a low interest rate loan, we dont want a loan we worked hard and paid it off and dont want to go in debt to rebuild! One or two of those employees fall to their death because they shouldnt have been there in the first place. We have had dry conditions in years past and there has probably been fires in the past and nothing like this ever happened. The terrain was steep, a vertical distance of 1,300 feet from the bottom of the drainages to the top of the hill. Will some folks be held accountable for actions or non-actions related to this wildfire incident? Please factor this in to your fire response in the future. We watched the news the rest of evening. I hounded the Knox News editor for a followup article around Dec. 19. and last updated 4:48 AM, Apr 05, 2022. Visibility was so low that other car lights could barely be seen from oncoming cars. Or in steep cliff terrain it just isnt going to happen, no one on the fire. The next morning, the morning of 28th, I took boys to school and went to a dr. appointment in Sevierville. We drove carefully and made it out of woods into Pigeon Forge safely. Person killed in downtown Gatlinburg fire identified. The GRSM person that requested the Spot wrote: Concerned about ridgetop winds with the coming front. We could get blocked in by both. The Thomas Divide Complex Fire comprises two wildfires the 140-acre Stone Pile Fire and the Cooper Creek Fire, which is estimated to be 170 acres. Given enough time the clock will run out and the weather will either be in the fire mangers favor or WATCH OUT! I am thankful so many are not only opening their eyes here, but taking action and questioning. But there have also been many times when these so called experts were thrust into a different climate or situation and they too experienced failures. 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. Incident Mgt. Who ever was in charge should loose their job!!! Experience must be coupled with training and planning based on forecasted possibilities and even un-forecasted what ifs. At 3:00PM I convinced my husband to call the Gatlinburg Fire Dept. 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. It predicted wind gusts out of the south Monday morning of 25 mph, increasing atnoonto30 mph and to 40 mph by 6 p.m. Who was responsible for Gatlinburg fire? strong south, southwest winds, extreme drought, low humidity..ect.., that something similar didnt happen here. Hit it with all you have the Moment it breaks out.. Who allowed this to happen? When I came out of dr. office, which is located on Middle Creek close to hospital, the atmosphere was eerie. Thus, private, State, or other agencies get left holding the bag, as it were. As a contractor I worked with a Dunes engine in Michigan MI years ago. Some may be pines, but the vast majority appear to be hemlocks. 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. 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 have a photo I took from the Walmart parking lot looking south that shows how smoky it was in Pigeon Forge. I can picture all So sometime during the night as we now know everything burned down. The Gatlinburg fire that killed 14 people was started by two teenagers dropping lit matches onto the ground along Chimney Tops Trail in Great Smoky Mountain National Park, sources close to the investigation told the Knoxville News Sentinel. Anytime that one side seeks to destroy the other as opposed to actually raise the issues, I would raise a red flag and wonder what the distraction is really trying to hide! I wish this would turn into the biggest Court case in history. We have also come upon many campfires that tent campers and others thought or extinguished but were back to a full burn with not adequate fire breaking around it. Would it be wise to implement backfire with such strong winds forecasted on top of exceptional drought and fuels? The winds that Monday afternoon had knocked power lines down and early reporting made mention of separate ignition points in the residential hillsides. Copyright 2022 WVLT. Perhaps he needs a bit of prompting to remind him that the public will not forget what happened. 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. Being asleep at the wheel is no excuse. Not to mention all the fallen limbs on the ground beneath them. The winds were getting stronger. No pre-evacuation notice was sent so citizens could be ready to depart. They didnt want CNN down there declaring their tourist town a death trap. It's always sad to see the destructive forces of Mother Nature. 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. By definition, prescribed burning is described as fire applied in a knowledgeable manner to forest and grassland fuels on a specific land area under selected weather conditions to accomplish predetermined, well-defined management objectives, pg 2, http://www.southernfireexchange.org/etc/ITPFISE.pdf. The first thing you think is, Is this real?, said Tyler Neddo, a longtime employee of Caf 420. I have for years pointed out to my students the dead hemlock all over the mountain. So they were more concerned about NPS structures than our homes and lives? A temporary evacuation refuge with limited services is located at Max Hasse Community Park . It is not a black and white world, not a this or that, it is all encompassing. "We've had five (fatalities) really close together and this is more than we normally have by this time of year," Boyd said. From just across the Smokies in Bryson City, N.C./Swain county. That afternoon a Chinook Type 1 helicopter (Type 1s are the largest helicopters used on wildfires) began dropping water on the fire, refilling at Fontana Lake 13 miles to the southwest, according to a source we talked to who didnt want their name disclosed because they were not authorized to speak on the subject. It was about this time that we noticed the wind beginning to get stronger. I responded that the climate is changing, and so are other related situations, and there will be. Enter your email address to subscribe and receive notifications of new articles by email. If I had even been in the bathroom or downstairs I wouldve died . We told them the fire was coming. I parked truck right beside a big mound of rip rap that Bob had dumped for lining the ditches on sides of our neighborhood roads, which arent through roads. There is simply too much BS. Tunica, MS, from our area near Kansas City, to arrive late evening, that day, in Tunica. 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.