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Post by kevinumberger on Nov 29, 2016 14:33:24 GMT -8
I happen to be out of town this week but yesterday the fire on chimney tops jumped the lines and it spread pretty rapidly....
Lots of structures burned down and as of now, 3 people confirmed dead..
The Park is closed until further notice...
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Post by hikingtiger on Nov 30, 2016 7:21:49 GMT -8
Been watching this. I know fire is natural for the forest (though the cause of this may not have been), but it's still sad to see.
Saw a couple of videos of folks trying to get out from their cabin up on Wiley Oakley and other places...very scary. Also posted a link to a CNN story in the Cohutta thread. Don't know why I didn't post it in it's own thread.
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FamilySherpa
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Post by FamilySherpa on Nov 30, 2016 7:48:43 GMT -8
are they really saying that the wind carried embers all the way from the chimney tops to gatlinburg?
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Post by ashepabst on Nov 30, 2016 9:29:56 GMT -8
the NPS statement attributed the G'burg fire to wind-blown embers... didn't specifically say embers from the Chimney 2 fire, but TEMA's statement did attribute to Chimney 2. though, earlier reports said the G'burg fire started around the Twin Creeks Picnic pavilion... seems like a perfect culprit --charcoal embers maybe?
the photo all the news sites are showing of the Chimneys ablaze is pretty stunning. it looks like it must have originated from the trail on the north side of the mountain --errant cigarette butt?
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Post by ashepabst on Nov 30, 2016 9:31:33 GMT -8
do they have you working the fire story, Kevin? are they letting press go into town yet?
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Post by hikingtiger on Nov 30, 2016 9:33:08 GMT -8
TEMA's statement did attribute to Chimney 2. though, earlier reports said the G'burg fire started around the Twin Creeks Picnic pavilion When I first read of the Twin Creeks fire, they were stating that they had yet to determine if it was separate from or connected to the Chimney Tops fire.
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VAN
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Post by VAN on Nov 30, 2016 11:56:43 GMT -8
I heard conflicting reports that the Wesser Bald tower was burned. I sure hope not!
I went to summer camp in Clayton, GA (Rabun Gap) and our camp hosted firefighters from all over for the last 2 weeks, including Thanksgiving due to the Rock Mountain fire, which is now out thank god!
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Post by kevinumberger on Nov 30, 2016 12:49:59 GMT -8
do they have you working the fire story, Kevin? are they letting press go into town yet? I am out of town on family business... But my station has been going pretty hard non stop since Monday night........ And apparently---Monroe county had a tornado last night as well....
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Post by kevinumberger on Nov 30, 2016 12:51:25 GMT -8
I heard conflicting reports that the Wesser Bald tower was burned. I sure hope not! I went to summer camp in Clayton, GA (Rabun Gap) and our camp hosted firefighters from all over for the last 2 weeks, including Thanksgiving due to the Rock Mountain fire, which is now out thank god! Wesser bald tower was not burned as of last Friday However---wayah bald tower---the roof burned off of it but structure is still standing (not sure what kinda shape it's in)
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FamilySherpa
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Post by FamilySherpa on Dec 1, 2016 5:37:02 GMT -8
According to the press release from the national park last night, they do believe the chimneys fire was the source for the gatlinburg fires. (Assuming i read it correctly). Also, even after yesterdays rain, they listed the chimneys fire at 10% contained Cigarette butts are barely regarded (by the general public) as litter. Its time we start treating them as a major fire hazard. How many times have you seen one get tossed out a car widow with sparks flying everywhere?
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Post by ashepabst on Dec 1, 2016 6:55:12 GMT -8
i gotta admit that I smoked as a younger man, and flicked my cigarette butts all the time. the attitude among smokers is that that's just what you do. smoking in the car? flick it out the window. smoking outside? flick it in the street. you'd think most people wouldn't flagrantly toss trash on the ground --at least when someone else is watching-- but a lot of smokers, it seems, have no shame about it at all or are perhaps not even mindful of it being a shameful action. maybe it's different out west where folks are accustomed to wildfires.
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null
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Post by null on Dec 1, 2016 8:59:18 GMT -8
you'd think most people wouldn't flagrantly toss trash on the ground In my experience, some people who would be offended and borderline irate at seeing someone litter in a city, wouldn't think twice about tossing their leftover dinner into the woods.
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FamilySherpa
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Post by FamilySherpa on Dec 1, 2016 11:01:28 GMT -8
New update says 0% contained. Also mentions that downed power lines (presumably from winds) may have caused some of the fires in town.
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Post by pastywhite on Dec 6, 2016 11:27:33 GMT -8
Hey guys, I haven't been on here much lately but thought I'd get you updated...
The general census is that many/most of the fires in Gatlinburg originated from the Chimney Tops. There was a fire there earlier in the fall (a few weeks ago) at the Chimney Tops and it was extinguished. I'm not 100% sure the original fire was completely out but I think that is what the NPS is going with. This 2nd fire started in almost the same place. It burned and smoldered up there for a few days. They closed the trails around there right after Thanksgiving. By Monday the smoke was very bad in Gatlinburg. The fire had spread to 500 acres but was still up at the Chimneys.
Sometime around lunch on Monday we started hearing of a possible fire around the Twin Creeks Science facility. The report at the time was they were not sure if this was spread from CT2 or if it was a new fire. The winds were forecast to increase overnight. The winds actually started to pick up early afternoon on Monday and by nightfall had gusts near 90mph. Around 4:00 they issued a voluntary evacuation for Mynatt Park (near twin creeks). I'd estimate 15-20 houses in that area.
To put things in perspective, I took my youngest to soccer practice - we were concerned for our friends up at Mynatt but there was no fear/danger/warning about fires spreading anywhere else. At 6:30 I got a call from a family member that they could see fires on the east side of town. I called my wife and she said she could see fire from the house. I immediately left Knoxville and started home. At this point there really was very little news coverage other there "there's a few fires in the Gatlinburg are". Due to the weather patterns this summer/fall another fire really wasn't news worthy. As I got closer to home I found they had closed 441 between Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg (the spur). I came home via a back road. On the way I could see a fire burning towards Pigeon Forge, this turned out to be the fire near Dollywood. After driving around some downed trees and power lines I got home about 8:30, the power was already out. We immediately evacuated to the community center. Red Cross had setup there earlier in the day and when we got there it was already getting crowded. They only had 1 small trailer of equipment, I think they were only expecting to serve a small number of people (if any) from Mynatt. By 9:00 the Red Cross moved to Rocky Top Sports World and the winds were howling. Winds had already damaged all the bleachers at Rocky Top and there was visible damage almost anywhere you looked. Even if there had been no fire this would have been some of the worst damage the Gatlinburg area had seen in a while. I think I saw where almost 2000 people stayed in the Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge shelters Monday night.
Very shortly after 9:00 on Monday the power at Rocky Top was coming and going. Cell service died not long after that. By 10:00 it was obvious that much of Gatlinburg was burning and we had no way to communicate since all phone, power, cell and internet services were down. We chose to just leave town and went to Newport. In Pittman Center we could see the mountain top blazing. This is the Cobbly Knob fire and is considered to be a separate fire from the CT2 fire. We didn't get cell service again until we got to Newport. When we got to a friends house we got to see the news and see what was going on.
I have never seen anything like this. While there was fire "in the area", we have been living with "fire in the area" for months now. The drought conditions with the hurricane class winds was just overwhelming. From what I have been able to gather they know the original and the 2nd fire at Chimney Tops were man-made. They are not saying it's arson but it was definitely not a natural fire. The park has been under a 100% burn ban for a while now. We are also being told the winds carried the fire from Chimneys to Bullhead and then down to Twin Creeks. In Gatlinburg the fires just seemed to explode all at once. Within a few hours it went from no fire to much of the town burning. I talked with a fireman who said at one point they had more fires than firemen. They are not sure what parts of the fires was carried from the park and what started from downed lines. I know my dad said he saw some embers in the air around 7:00 at his house (which made it ok) and they were just floating through the air between our house and the neighbor.
Gatlinburg is still under a quarantine. If you can prove you own or rent property in town you can get past the checkpoint but have to be out by 5:00 each day. Tomorrow, residents will be able to move back home and Friday town is expected to open for everyone. There is a water boil advisory. We are not sure why but the water in town has been rust colored so folks were not going to drink it anyway. As of last night all the fires in town were out.
The fires in Cobbly Knob and Smokies are still burning but with all the rain are no longer spreading. With the rain today I expect they will really up the containment report. I am not sure the extent of the damage in the park but they still have 700+ personnel working in the park to stop the fires from spreading. I saw one report that said no structures were lost in the Smokies. The numbers of homes and businesses lost outside the park is getting close to 1800. Based on the route the fire spread I would guess that much of the Sugarlands valley area is damaged. Keep in mind much of the fire in the park has been a fast spreading fire. The underbrush and smaller trees are gone but the taller trees will be OK so you might not see the extent of the damage from satellite images. We have seen this in Gatlinburg where houses burned to the ground but the trees in the yard still have leaves.
I haven't been around many fires and I am not sure many people alive have seen anything like this but due to the winds the fires were extremely hot. All over town you can see where it was so hot cars melted. The buildings that burned are just gone, burned to ash and the winds blew the ash away. There's nothing left but stone and metal. Even things like bed springs you normally see after a fire were melted into slag. You can sometimes see a stove or washing machine but anything smaller than that is just gone.
Please keep the families up this way in your prayers, we are going to need it over the next few months.
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Post by hikingtiger on Dec 6, 2016 12:17:39 GMT -8
Glad to hear y'all are ok. Many prayers going up and help is on the way.
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