Fire on the Mountain

November 29, 2016 11:59 AM

Suffering from exceptional drought conditions, the areas around the Great Smoky Mountains National Park haven't seen significant rainfall since September. Wildfires have ravaged the southeast for the last few weeks, however, starting on Wednesday, November 23, a fire near the summit of the Chimney Tops trail in the GSMNP caused Park officials to close the trail and surrounding others. The fire spread from the park to areas near Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge and as of 4 PM EST on November 28, an evacuation order was issued for areas of Gatlinburg.

The combination of dry conditions and high winds carried the embers into residential and commerical areas in Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge. Since then a number tourist attractions have been destroyed by the fire, including the Mysterious Mansion of Gatlinburg, Hillbilly Golf, and Driftwood Apartments. There has also been significant damage to buildings on the National Register of historic places, including the Park Vista Hotel (autoplay) and two buildings at the Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts.

Local news channels are compiling lists and maps of damaged or endangered buildings while local communities rally to help out. Over 14000 people were evacuate and currently on 3 have been injured. Gov. Bill Haslam is set to visit the area on Tuesday. Dolly Parton has issued a statement encouraging everyone to help out and do their best to prevent forest fires.

Officials indicate that the worst is over, however 14 active structure fires remain in the city of Gatlinburg. The mayor of Gatlinburg vows to rebuild.

Live coverage from the Nashville Tennessean

posted by teleri025 (74 comments total)

I love going to Gatlinburg - "The Vegas of the Smoky Mountains". A couple of my good friends live there and they had to evacuate last night. I am hoping for the best.
posted by Roentgen at 12:05 PM on November 29, 2016 [1 favorite]

I'm from this area, although I've lived in AZ for the past few years, and the combination of having so many good memories from the Smokies, spending a few years in middle TN as a volunteer firefighter (structure), and learning so much more about wildfire from living in the Southwest has me really on edge about this situation. Urban/rural interface wildfires are something that we in the South have almost no experience with, from a response or evacuation perspective.

My mom still lives in some of the more rural parts of South Knoxville and she is having a ton of trouble with her eyes and lungs. Knoxville is at a lower elevation than the surrounding fires and the smoke is just pouring into the river valley.
posted by WidgetAlley at 12:09 PM on November 29, 2016 [7 favorites]

I live in Gatlinburg, and this past 24 hours have been so scary. We are safe with family, but evacuating was scary.
posted by all about eevee at 12:10 PM on November 29, 2016 [37 favorites]

Also, so glad to know that the animals at the aquarium, Dixie Stampede, and Dollywood are okay (except for the two handicapped bald eagles at the Eagle Mountain Sanctuary, who employees could not find and/or reach).
posted by all about eevee at 12:13 PM on November 29, 2016 [9 favorites]

Glad to hear you and yours are okay, all about eevee.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 12:19 PM on November 29, 2016 [1 favorite]

It's so terrifying. We were up in the NC mountains to go camping last month, and ended up having to come back home when forest fires near the campsite made the air tough to breathe. Even though that was not one of these huge fires, it was so ominous, watching the yellow-white clouds of smoke just pour over the sky. My thoughts are with everyone up there.
posted by mittens at 12:20 PM on November 29, 2016

I saw a Reddit thread this morning, and it was the only coverage I was aware of. Dang, this sounds like a big, bad fire -- and the photo that threads links from is pretty terrifying: fire on the mountain at night.

Can anyone knowledgeable compare this to the big dry-season* wildfires out in California?

* My aunt near L.A. told me that there's no long a "fire season" because it's pretty much year-round now, thanks to the lengthy drought. :7(
posted by wenestvedt at 12:22 PM on November 29, 2016 [2 favorites]

Sorry Mittens. We got a really hard rain last night and it's over. The air quality has been terrible this month. But our fires didn't come to town to visit.
posted by Mr. Yuck at 12:26 PM on November 29, 2016

I would say that this is different because we are not used to wildfires or a dry season, whereas my impression is that in California, these sort of wildfires are more common. There are actually around 100 wildfires throughout East Tennessee right now, and most of them started from people throwing cigarettes out their car windows.
posted by all about eevee at 12:27 PM on November 29, 2016 [1 favorite]

We've been having days where the air smelled like smoke and lots of fallout crusting up my car for the past couple of weeks way out here in Tidewater Virginia.
posted by indubitable at 12:36 PM on November 29, 2016

I read the WaPo link earlier today and when I got to By that night, winds had climbed to 87 mph my jaw dropped.
posted by rtha at 12:38 PM on November 29, 2016

Wildfires are something I grew up with in Southern California. We lived in the foothills and dads up on the roof spraying it down with water was pretty common August through November. Now it's a matter of when and where. It's so dry up and down the state and there are so few areas unencroached by humanity that someone is always evacuating from somewhere. We have friends who live in Malibu up in the Santa Monica mountains and there is one road in and out. They've been there for 10 years, and they've always been close, but one of these days. Honestly, I'm afraid for them.
posted by Sophie1 at 12:57 PM on November 29, 2016

I live about 20 miles from Gatlinburg, as the crow flies. There's not a lot to say, except that we're grateful to the wilderness firefighters who have come to help us from all over the country. We're grateful to the municipal firefighters who have come from all over East Tennessee via their Mutual Aid agreements. We're grateful to the Tennessee National Guard, who are mobilized to help clear debris and perform welfare checks.

We're grateful that there is (so far) only one reported injury to a human, and it is minor. We are grateful that all the ten thousand animals at the aquarium survived, as did the animals in residence at Dollywood and Ober Gatlinburg.

As terrible as this is, it could have been so much worse. We have no experience with this; Great Smoky Mountains National Park usually qualifies as a temperate rainforest. We don't have droughts, we don't have wildfires. Well, we hadn't had, up till now.
posted by workerant at 12:57 PM on November 29, 2016 [20 favorites]

And in a day of ghastly photos crawling down my Facebook feed, this is the most heartbreaking.
posted by workerant at 1:02 PM on November 29, 2016 [13 favorites]

People in the west get reminded about this all the time but, with climate changing, everyone ought to think about it. If your house has lots of trees around it, you ought to think about what could happen in a fire. Clean up deadwood. Cut down trees that are too close to your house, especially types of trees that burn violently. I've been working on this all summer, you wouldn't believe how fiercely the hemlocks around my house burn. It's like they're coated with wax.
posted by Bee'sWing at 1:04 PM on November 29, 2016 [6 favorites]

So far, three people have died in the fires, according to WBIR. They are still searching homes and other structures.
posted by all about eevee at 1:06 PM on November 29, 2016

I'm so sorry, eevee. I'm listening to the press conference right now; 3 fatalities, 14 injuries transported to hospital (including Vanderbilt, which has a burn unit.) Let me know if you or your neighbors need anything. I'm in Maryville and can help.

Gatlinburg's mayor and city administrator both lost their homes. I don't know how they're sounding so calm.
posted by workerant at 1:19 PM on November 29, 2016 [2 favorites]

So scary. So sad. Good to hear that local Mefites are doing okay.
posted by The Underpants Monster at 1:20 PM on November 29, 2016

I saw this video of folks trying to get down the mountain during the blaze. Having driven those roads, like the ones going up to Ober.... Fuck. Even in pristine condition a front wheel drive car, even a manual driven by someone like me who is not unfamiliar with how to approach such things, struggles. Places like this may not look bad via street view but you will spin tires there and I've seen cars have to retreat in reverse. Ditto this spot where shit can also get real in a hurry. These cabin roads are not generous. Rain or sleet? You're taking your life in your own hands.

That truck is a hero for those two (and a dog).

EDIT: Perhaps a trigger warning is warranted for that first link. No one dies, one curses alot, but it is a fire situation like few that I've ever seen.
posted by RolandOfEld at 1:20 PM on November 29, 2016 [23 favorites]

My family lives out that way, in western NC. My sister was having lung problems before all this happened and this has greatly hampered her recovery, and my folks are getting old and I know this isn't great for them. My dad's boss was evacuated from his home. On top of that, just the thought of my mountains on fire tears my heart out.

The worst thing is that according to them, the rumor is that at least some of the fires are arson caused by some jackhole filling tires with gasoline and rolling them into the woods. I'm just.. at a loss for words.
posted by unknownmosquito at 1:25 PM on November 29, 2016 [3 favorites]

I saw this video of folks trying to get down the mountain during the blaze.

Oh my God. That is... harrowing.
posted by WidgetAlley at 1:27 PM on November 29, 2016 [4 favorites]

Oh heavens, that picture of the cubs is killing me.

I grew up nearby and the reason I made the post was because I was getting continual updates from friends via Facebook and saw next to no national attention.
posted by teleri025 at 1:31 PM on November 29, 2016

http://www.citizen-times.com/story/news/local/2016/11/11/arson-suspected-wncs-western-wildfires/93644762/

Some corroboration for my claims above :(
posted by unknownmosquito at 1:31 PM on November 29, 2016

Yes, that video is exactly what it was like driving down the mountain. At one point, we drove through what looked like a canopy of fire. It was insane.
posted by all about eevee at 1:32 PM on November 29, 2016 [13 favorites]

I hadn't heard about this which is surprising as Australia sympathises with the horrors of bush fires. And jeez, at this time of year you guys should all be safe and us worrying. And even then, I wouldn't have thought to worry about the smokey mountains, I thought they stayed pretty wet compared to forests out west.

Stay safe, everyone.
posted by kitten magic at 1:52 PM on November 29, 2016

They do stay wet, generally. I lived there from 1990-2005 and there was never a concern. In certain parts it's considered a temperate rain forest. This is very unusual.
posted by unknownmosquito at 1:54 PM on November 29, 2016 [1 favorite]

Born and raised in Middle Tennessee, visited Gatlinburg countless times in my life. I'm still in shock that this is happening. I'd heard it was drought conditions there but never once in my life thought something like this could ever take place.
posted by komara at 1:58 PM on November 29, 2016

Being in Atlanta I've always thought one of the biggest differences from living in the West was not worrying about forest fires. It's something you always think about there, but here it's usually so wet you couldn't start one if you wanted to.

Last night was the first time it's rained here in a couple of months and it was a huge relief. I started thinking about fire weeks ago and sorry to see it happening up there.
posted by bongo_x at 2:01 PM on November 29, 2016 [1 favorite]

Yeah, in the East wildfires are usually small when they do happen because there is so much moisture in the vegetation a fire has to dry it out before it can spread beyond its initial area. Grass fires are more common since it can dry out in a week or less if it is hot and unusually windy, but again, they don't usually get large because they spread slowly enough that they can be easily extinguished with a garden hose.

A big fire like this east of the plains is nearly unheard of, but so is the scale of the drought. Yet somehow they have happened several times in the last decade. Seems to me like pretty strong evidence that climate change is actually a thing. (The increased incidence, not this particular drought and fire)
posted by wierdo at 2:13 PM on November 29, 2016 [1 favorite]

It's near 70 here at the end of November. Even in Texas, that's new. You don't have to tell me climate change is a thing.
posted by emjaybee at 2:19 PM on November 29, 2016 [4 favorites]

It was 83 in Nashville on November 4. Today it got up to 68, on a day that in the past decade got up to 60 or 62 at the highest and was typically in the low to mid-50s.
posted by blucevalo at 2:44 PM on November 29, 2016 [3 favorites]

> I saw this video of folks trying to get down the mountain during the blaze.

I thought I was going to pass out just watching it. No idea how they did it.
posted by rtha at 2:55 PM on November 29, 2016 [3 favorites]

I understand arson and carelessness start many fires, but I also know Smoky the &%$#* Bear was created by a consortium of logging interests eager to misdirect attention from their rates of harvest because the science of how forests evolved in response to lightening strikes wasn't accepted science until much later.

Let me rephrase: It benefits many to "Uncle Sam" the blame and forestry and arboriculture is too greatly commercial and insufficiently studied. Did You Know?19th and turn-of-the-century logging clear cut it all. Accept for topography too extreme for its equipment and some protected parks.
posted by lazycomputerkids at 3:38 PM on November 29, 2016

Yikes! Ma Ardship's brother lives in that area. I got fresh email from him about an hour ago so guess he's OK, though. I'd better ask him what's up.
posted by The Ardship of Cambry at 3:46 PM on November 29, 2016

My family, friends and many of my coworkers are in Asheville. A few weeks ago, I had friends evacuated from their home on Lake Santeetlah (on the North Carolina side of the Smokeys) and a client whose house was within 100 feet of the fire line at the Party Rock fire on Lake Lure (they were evacuated and firefighters briefly used their home as a staging area). I was born in East Tennessee and grew up in Asheville. I never, in my wildest dreams, ever expected to see anything like this. It's horrifying and my heart is breaking for everyone affected by these fires.
posted by thivaia at 4:05 PM on November 29, 2016 [1 favorite]

I'm not saying there hasn't been arson, but typically one uses diesel fuel with tires. Diesel is non-explosive, which right there is a big advantage over gasoline. Diesel needs a wick (like some rolls of cardboard or something put into said tire, because otherwise the diesel will put out your match) but it'll not-explode long enough for you to actually roll it out of your pickup and drive away safely while still providing enough dead-dinosaur accelerant to burn the woods down. Remember, arsonists, Safety First.
posted by which_chick at 4:08 PM on November 29, 2016 [1 favorite]

Can anyone knowledgeable compare this to the big dry-season* wildfires out in California?


I'm not sure about California, but here are some quotes from visiting firefighters from NM and MT:
"It doesn't die down after dark," said fire Capt. Ron Thalacker, who came from Carlsbad, New Mexico, with a fire engine that draws water from streams and ponds to spray on hot spots in Rabun County."

"Firefighter Chad Cullum of Billings, Montana, noted that the large, wind-driven fires that scorch pine forests in the West often burn in the tree tops and mellow out at night, but the fires in the Appalachians are clinging to the ground and actively burning 24 hours a day, spewing out a constant cloud of smoke."

Those were from a week or ten days ago. I live in Columbia, SC, 200 or more miles away, and we first got smoke from these fires drifting over the city the day after Election Day, as far as I can recall.

My home, though, is East Tennessee - born and grew up in and around Chattanooga and lived ten years in Knoxville. It is heartbreaking.
posted by frobozz at 4:13 PM on November 29, 2016 [3 favorites]

It's similarly droughty in my dad's area of Virginia, near Amherst, and there have been multiple fires. The Thrasher's Creek fire came within a thousand feet of his house, and he spent one rather terrifying night surrounded on three sides by flames when the fire jumped the initial firebreak.

Having been saved by firecrews from other states and the big bad federal government bringing in heavy lift helicopters to move water and equipment, he has been very sarcastic on the subject of his neighbors who voted for Trump.
posted by tavella at 4:40 PM on November 29, 2016 [9 favorites]

I actually just got home from Party Rock a week ago today (I was only up there for a few days due to rotating crews, but one guy stayed the entire week and a half). I wouldn't be surprised if we were redeployed, or given the option to go, further west this go round. Our bay still smells like woodsfire. It was amazing to meet all the folks from Arizona and Oregon and New Mexico - they were very surprised by southern hospitality.

Structural firefighter from the coast; our crews and apparatus were used to guard structures. I've fought little woodsfires; a few acres, and they suuuuuuuuck.
posted by sara is disenchanted at 4:46 PM on November 29, 2016 [15 favorites]

To get an idea of how close the fire front came, here's a map. If you see where Indian Creek turns west away from the road, his house is in that bend, about 600 feet from the road (and towards the fire.)

I give you you the earthy wisdom of The People, as recorded by my dad's friend (and the other liberal in their area):

[Her wood delivery guy] was foaming at the mouth about all the firefighters that were there and how much the government was burning up for backfires unnecessarily and was going to spend on this and what jerks they were and how Trump is going to put an end to this kind of stuff.
posted by tavella at 4:57 PM on November 29, 2016 [2 favorites]

I actually just got home from Party Rock a week ago today (I was only up there for a few days due to rotating crews, but one guy stayed the entire week and a half).

As a native of the area, can I just say, thank you. I'm glad you made it back okay and thus far the responders all seem to be all right.
posted by WidgetAlley at 5:48 PM on November 29, 2016 [2 favorites]

In the NC mountians for thanksgiving, we caught the bad smoke from the large fires. Then on my way home, in SW VA for several miles one side of the road had all the low brush burnt, although that fire seemed to have spared the trees. That burn ended less than 10 miles from my house, which is deep in the woods. Super scary experience, coming home to who knows what.

We've been in a drought here since September, although it only started to be recognised as such in the past few weeks. (See US drought monitor.) We may finally be getting out of the dry period now.

Climate change is leading to longer duration weather events in this area. What tended to be a couple of dry weeks in the fall, has become multiple months of drought and weeks of fire. What might have been a few days of winter weather and a few inches of snow before the front moved through has turned into multiple weeks of arctic air, with multiple 1 ft snowfalls. What might have been a few scorching summer days has become a week of 100-110 degree temperatures. I've seen all this over the past several years.
posted by joeyh at 5:55 PM on November 29, 2016 [6 favorites]

That was odd. Widget's comment vanished and came back.

Thanks sara. That was the one that was smoking us out.
posted by Mr. Yuck at 5:55 PM on November 29, 2016 [1 favorite]

I flew into Nashville the Friday before election day, on my way to canvassing in Ohio, and I could see about 15 different plumes of smoke from the surrounding mountains. It was so strange, and I wondered why I'd never heard about forest fires around there before.

I hope the worst is over.
posted by maggiemaggie at 6:03 PM on November 29, 2016

‘Please Lord, let us get off this mountain': Video shows driver trying to flee Tenn. wildfire."

This is an unbelievably compelling yet terrifying video. I won't even bother describing it except to say that it is the stuff of nightmares or video games -- two guys trying to drive off of a fire-infested mountain. (Washington Post video). I didn't see it linked above. It's potentially unnerving for some viewers, by way of a trigger warning. I am an experienced driver (including lots of backroad driving in the GSMs) and have driven through active wildfire areas before on the West Coast. But my heart was in my throat and I think I would have lost my shit. The way the two guys work together despite being close to freaking out is excellent cockpit resource management, although how advisable it was to film and narrate the entire sequence is another question. My palms are still sweaty from gripping an imaginary wheel and trying to make out what was in the alternating conflagration and murk ahead.

Every single cabin they pass is burning like a torch.

ETA: Good thoughts to mefites in the path, be safe.
posted by spitbull at 6:13 PM on November 29, 2016

That's a double. Roland posted it up thread. If I were driving I would have told the passenger to shut up.
posted by Mr. Yuck at 6:21 PM on November 29, 2016 [1 favorite]

mods feel free to delete my prior, apologies for missing it above
posted by spitbull at 6:28 PM on November 29, 2016 [1 favorite]

I appreciate the thanks, but we weren't the guys doing the work. The Beach doesn't have many brush fires. :) As far as I know, no one had any major injuries and only a few trucks got banged up. Us flatlanders aren't too used to switchbacks with major elevation changes. When I got up there, the other engineer was all "you can drive..." I was like "nah bro I'm good; I'll drive the guide car." He wasn't too keen on having the pedal to the floor driving up the side of a mountain, and I wasn't either.

I hope everyone in TN that is able to be is safe.

It's interesting to note that after America Burning was published, we've made amazing strides in regards to fire prevention and suppression as it relates to urban/industrialized/commercial/residential areas, but the wildland guys are really earning their keep as climate change becomes a reality.
posted by sara is disenchanted at 7:01 PM on November 29, 2016 [3 favorites]

Many thanks anyway, sara is disenchanted, we're very glad y'all were here. It's been a long, bad November in Asheville. I joked on Twitter about how actually seeing and smelling the world burn this month has actually been kind of helpful and I've been waiting for my close friend in Bat Cave to be evacuated to my house from the Party Rock fire - with her goat, four chickens, guinea pigs, two dogs and psychotic killer parrot - but really it's been scary as hell. Thick smoke almost every day, air quality alerts, no visibility, everything so dry: it's been rough. And Asheville got very lucky indeed: unlike poor heartbreaking Gatlinburg, the multiple fires never got close to the city. And we did, finally, have some rain last night. I hope it was enough.

Forest fires have never even been on my anxiety radar. They've always been a disaster that happened far away, like tsunamis, a terror for the amorphous West, or Australia. It's wet here. Mold is the issue, not smoke. I live in a temperate rainforest, or so I thought. Thanks November 2016, we have another new normal and it's not so good.
posted by mygothlaundry at 7:34 PM on November 29, 2016 [7 favorites]

Come to think of it, we shouldn't be terribly surprised. Tropical rainforests are burning. The Amazon is (or was recently) at its lowest flow ever recorded. Thing is, the rainforest creates its own climate, so the more that burns, the drier it gets. It's a vicious cycle that no longer requires humans. We seem to have reached many different tipping points all in a few years' time.

But this time next month it'll be 20 degrees below normal and the "hurf durf, where's your global warming" brigade will be back out in force.
posted by wierdo at 7:46 PM on November 29, 2016 [5 favorites]

the wildland guys are really earning their keep as climate change becomes a reality.

Unlike city fire departments, wildland fire hasn't usually been staffed in a serious, year-round, career kind of way. It's typically been a mix of hotshot crews, federal and local crews, and supplemental crews which sometimes include prisoners. Wages (for the non-prisoners) are good, but usually only seasonal. The people I know who work fire for the Forest Service are all on temporary contracts and expect to stay that way.

With climate change, we might want to start staffing and paying for wildland fire as an actual occupation, not just a fun way to make good money for a few years for the adventurous types.
posted by Dip Flash at 7:51 PM on November 29, 2016 [1 favorite]

Yes, some of our younger guys and vollys were asking the contractors about the work; they spend half the year traveling and fighting fires and getting paid well and the other half traveling and living on a beach or a mountain somewhere. It's fairly nomadic, and would probably sound amazing if I was 20 years old. However, I am not and I enjoy the structure (ha) of going home every other day to my mortgage and dog.

I don't know about the federal level, other than the ads for hotshots I see on USAJobs, but I know that North Carolina's Forestry hires full-time career staff, and they work plows, brush trucks, educate the public, and some are foresters in addition to being wildland firefighters. They have areas around the state that are considered their jurisdictions, but generally enter into mutual aid agreements with the surrounding structural departments. They also *REALLY* like talking on the radio. Our local forestry guys are pretty easy to work with, but it's a logistical challenge to get them into place when we're standing out there with some flappers and a booster line saying "hmm, I'd like for that fire to stay over there pls." They give us a hard time about being stupid enough to run into a burning building and we tease them about being potential baked potatoes.

The press release for Party Rock said everyone is to be demobilized tomorrow morning. I'd hazard a guess that a fair amount of those guys will probably head to TN.
posted by sara is disenchanted at 8:16 PM on November 29, 2016 [2 favorites]

In response to some of the comments above I'd like to share some info.

wenestvedt; California has responded to the number and size of fires through the years by providing the largest firefighting organization in the US. The resources to fight wild fires include USDA Forest Service and USDI Bureau of Land Management. The response forces are experienced and well trained. Fires larger than 100,000 acres are not uncommon. The logistical requirements to establish a full service fire camp for 2,000 firefighters within 24 hours of notification are staged and available. CalFire has it's own firefighting aircraft. The meteorological conditions that increase the intensity and rapid growth of fires generally cover large areas and lead to several large fires occurring simultaneously. Established priorities determine which incident gets scarce resources first.

North America has documented history of large forest fires. Richard Henry Dana wrote in 1832 about areas along the California coast devoid of vegetation as a result of wild land fires. The Miramichi Fire(s) burned vast areas of New Brunswick in 1825. The Peshtigo fire is probably the largest and most deadly forest fire in US history. The Hinckley Fire and what is called simply "The Great Fires" were the incidents which lead to the overall fire suppression concept for the early Rangers.

During WWII timber and wood products were considered highly valuable war fighting resources. The Smokey Bear image came about during the war.

Fire management, rather than fire suppression determines the response to fires throughout the west currently.

Southeastern foresters and firefighters are now experiencing conditions that exceed anything that's been seen before. Everyone is striving to learn, adjust and adapt to current conditions.
posted by X4ster at 8:30 PM on November 29, 2016 [9 favorites]

Summer seasonal firefighting has been an entry level step for people who hope to compete for full time permanent jobs with either one of the natural resource agencies or with urban fire departments.

Seasonal firefighting employment has been the norm from the earliest years. Why pay salaries when there is no work for the crews? In the years when budgets were good (pre Reagan) firefighters could be held on through the off season doing project works like burning logging slash piles, doing trail maintenance, campground construction or other work.

Back in the mid to late 1900's hotshot and engine crews generally included guys earning college tuition money.
posted by X4ster at 8:50 PM on November 29, 2016

The scariest part about the video of those guys driving down the mountain is all the people they passed in little cars. Hope they're OK. That's how people died in the Berkeley firestorm.
posted by fshgrl at 10:05 PM on November 29, 2016 [1 favorite]

Any news on how things are going this morning? The radar right now looks like a good dousing, so hopefully that will at least help snuff the flames/embers. Hope everyone is ok.
posted by yoga at 5:58 AM on November 30, 2016

Crap. After comparing blaze locations it looks like the deluge is well west of the flames. Here's hoping for a push eastward on the rain.
posted by yoga at 6:01 AM on November 30, 2016

Fuller, more stitched together of my video from yesterday that I posted upthread.
posted by RolandOfEld at 6:36 AM on November 30, 2016

I am currently in the storm that Gatlinburg is about to get (I'm about 25 miles due west), and it's a real frog-strangler. We had a few tornado warnings overnight, one or two of which appear to have touched down around Greenback, TN, because 2016 is the Year that Keeps On Fucking Giving. I don't think the Gatlinburg fires can survive this rain, though.
posted by workerant at 6:52 AM on November 30, 2016 [2 favorites]

I live about 30 miles away from Sevier County, and have driven pretty much every road there, been up and down again and again most of my life through Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge, worked there in a music theatre, even worked at Silver Dollar City (now Dollywood), hiking and camping memories beyond counting too - and I have many friends living and working there. i don't recall any significant fires there in the past. one of the hundreds of landmarks and buildings destroyed - Hillbilly Golf, a killer putt putt course on a mountainside you had to take an incline rail car to reach. it's been there all my life - even Gold Digest is mourning it's loss.
here's a vid of a family trip through Hillbilly's course.
posted by Mr.Pointy at 7:40 AM on November 30, 2016 [4 favorites]

Man, I always assumed, very wrongly it seems, that the golf course was terrible. I'm very sad that I never visited it while we vacationed there.
posted by RolandOfEld at 8:45 AM on November 30, 2016 [1 favorite]

I hate hearing about this. I've been to Gatlinburg a few times and although it is a little too glitzy for me, I have very good memories of taking my then 6 year old daughter there and teaching her to ski at Ober Gatlinburg, the start of an annual winter tradition of ski trips. We drove past Hillbilly Golf all the time, but never did play. Now I wish we had. I hope the rain get the fires under control and everyone affected gets whatever assistance they need to get back to normal. In that part of the country forest fires can leave scars that take decades or longer to heal.
posted by TedW at 8:52 AM on November 30, 2016 [2 favorites]

The confirmed death toll is up to seven. Warning: autoplay video
posted by workerant at 2:50 PM on November 30, 2016

I live in Columbia, SC, 200 or more miles away, and we first got smoke from these fires drifting over the city the day after Election Day, as far as I can recall.


I live in Atlanta and same here, but I think our smoke was from the fires in the north GA mountains, some of which were set intentionally. Lots of jokes that day about how Trump gets elected and then the world burns.

I havent seen the news or anyone mention this, but did all this rain we got this week help?
posted by LizBoBiz at 5:49 AM on December 1, 2016

I havent seen the news or anyone mention this, but did all this rain we got this week help?

Yes, but...

Rain finally comes to fire-ravaged Tennessee — along with tornadoes, mudslides and the threat of floods
posted by zakur at 7:20 AM on December 1, 2016

The last time Michael Reed, a maintenance safety trainer at the theme park Dollywood, spoke to his wife, Constance, was Monday evening. He and his son became stuck in traffic as they tried to drive home. As fires engulfed their neighborhood, Constance, who was with their two daughters, called to tell him flames were shooting across the street.

“I told them to call 911 and get out, and that was the last I heard from them,” he told the Knoxville News Sentinel on Wednesday.

Jesus Christ.
posted by rtha at 8:12 AM on December 1, 2016 [1 favorite]

More to break your heart.
posted by mygothlaundry at 5:39 PM on December 1, 2016

What a horrific way to go. I can't imagine anything worse.
posted by Mr. Yuck at 5:56 PM on December 1, 2016

Goddamn.

Dear East Coast folks who are new to California-style wildfires: flee early. It's better to feel dumb because you fled when you didn't need to. Good luck and stay safe.
posted by rtha at 6:05 PM on December 1, 2016 [6 favorites]

Two juveniles charged with arson in Tennessee wildfires that left 14 people dead

During an investigation involving local, state and federal agents, “information was developed that two juveniles allegedly started the fire,” the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation said in a news release.

Both were taken into custody Wednesday morning and are being held at the Sevier County Juvenile Detention Center.

The suspects are Tennessee residents, District Attorney General Jimmy B. Dunn said at a news conference in Sevierville. No additional information about the youths was made available, including their age and gender.

posted by zakur at 3:40 PM on December 7, 2016 [1 favorite]

I guess arson implies an intentional setting of a fire, not a negligent one? That sucks.
posted by thelonius at 3:57 PM on December 7, 2016

On a slightly positive note, the Patron Saint of the Smokies, Dolly Parton, has offered $1000 each month for up to six months to Sevier County families who lost their homes in the wildfires.

The My People Fund is restricted to homeowners or renters whose primary residence was destroyed or made unlivable by the fire. Dolly vows that any donations made to the fund will go directly and completely to those in need. Applicants who are approved can pick up their first checks immediately and if they do not have a checking account the Foundation has "worked with our banking partner, Citizens National Bank, to allow any recipient of My People Fund checks to cash them with only a photo ID at any Sevier County branch."
posted by teleri025 at 12:09 PM on December 8, 2016 [5 favorites]

Patron Saint of the Smokies

No kidding. This is amazing and I hope people don't abuse the generosity because it sounds like she's erring on the side of helping folks first and asking questions later, which is indeed divine. Folks unfamiliar with the area should know that, for normal folks not looking to replace a majestic cabin (or associated lifestyle) at least, a thousand bucks a month is a decent chunk of money. It's not 'here's a new house' money, but it'll go a lot farther there than it would in a more built up region.
posted by RolandOfEld at 7:35 AM on December 9, 2016 [1 favorite]

> The last time Michael Reed, a maintenance safety trainer at the theme park Dollywood, spoke to his wife, Constance, was Monday evening. He and his son became stuck in traffic as they tried to drive home. As fires engulfed their neighborhood, Constance, who was with their two daughters, called to tell him flames were shooting across the street.

“I told them to call 911 and get out, and that was the last I heard from them,” he told the Knoxville News Sentinel on Wednesday.

From yesterday's WaPo:

April Calhoun, a cashier at a Family Dollar store, said her family barely survived. When the fire struck without warning late Nov. 28, they staggered from their apartment to a sidewalk off East Parkway, the road that ushers visitors into town, struggling to breathe.

Calhoun said she locked eyes with her husband in the orange haze outside their apartment and cried. “To the left, there was fire. Behind us. All of downtown. We were like, ‘We’re not going to make it.’ We just thought: ‘We’re dead. There’s no way out.’ ”

They could barely see three steps ahead. They held shirts over the noses of their children, ages 4 to 11, who were already wheezing. “I knew that if something was going to happen, it was going to happen to the kids first because they are so small,” she said. “We didn’t want to say anything, but they could see their whole world was on fire.”

A stranger in a truck stopped out of nowhere and offered the family a ride that saved their lives, she said this week while sitting at a Red Cross shelter, wearing donated clothes.

Two of her daughters, Alexis and Piper, sat on either side of her, staring blankly. A Red Cross official said they appeared to be experiencing trauma.

“My daughter is having to deal with her best friend being found dead with her mother,” Calhoun said of Alexis, 11.

Her friend, Chloe Reed, 12, set out with her mother, Constance, and sister Lily, 9, in an attempt to escape the fire in another part of Gatlinburg, off Ski Mountain Road in Chalet Village. They were found dead after a five-day search.

posted by rtha at 9:39 AM on December 9, 2016