Posted on 11/30/2016 8:12:55 AM PST by Mrs. Don-o
The remains of a home and cars smolder after a wildfire November 29, 2016 in Gatlinburg, Tennessee. Thousands of people have been evacuated from the area and over 100 houses and businesses were damaged or destroyed after drought conditions helped the fire spread through the foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains. (Photo by Brian Blanco/Getty Images)
With more than 14,000 people evacuated from the Gatlinburg, Tennessee area and more than 400 homes and businesses damaged or destroyed, the Sevier county wildfire may have been the largest in Tennessee in the last 100 years. But what caused the fire? Experts currently believe the fire was man-made.
Here’s what we know so far.
The original fire may have been man-made, originating from a fire at Chimney Tops Trail, according to local news source The Daily Times. On November 26, a three-acre fire closed parts of the Chimney Tops Trail region of Great Smoky Mountains National Park. This may be the fire that grew to engulf other areas in Tennessee, Weather.com reported. The original Chimney Tops Trail fire appeared to be the result of someone’s actions, Chief Ranger Steve Kloster announced in a press release from Nov. 26. Extremely dry conditions in Tennessee made it easier for the fire to grow.
There have been a number of wildfires in Tennessee over the last few weeks due to extremely dry conditions, ABC 7 reported. On Monday night, winds topped 87 mph and helped this particular fire quickly grow to an enormous size. The winds blew down power lines, sparking new fires that quickly spread.
What was originally a wildland fire on Chimney Top Mountain quickly spread onto private property in Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge, the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency reported. It then grew into the enormous fire that destroyed hundreds of homes and businesses.
The person or people responsible for the fire have not yet been found. Earlier on Tuesday, media reported that a man was arrested for setting three fires that spread into a 300-acre fire in Tennessee. This appears to be connected to fires from earlier in November, not the Gatlinburg fire. We will update this article as soon as we have more details.
Chief Ranger thinks this fire was set.
Jihad training camps in eastern TN. I’d start by looking there.
Mosques in Tennessee
http://tennessee.localguides.com/ypcyellow/mosques.html
Muslims? They probably got their orders from those in charge of burning down areas Israel ... it’s just too darn similar and fishy!
I would look at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville for kids of Nashville Palestinians
Maybe I’m just ignorant of how wildfire spreads, but it was striking to see every single house those guys who were fleeing Chalet Village passed on fire, engulfed really, when surrounding woods were not on fire. Looking at video of the aftermath, I see house after house burned to the foundation, with trees not ten feet away unscathed with fall leaves still on them. Something seems very wrong about that. Pardon me for sounding conspiratorial, but it honestly looks as if someone wanted to burn out the houses and leave the woodlands alone. That to me says environmentalists, possibly even connected to the Park Service, since the worst damage occurred on properties abutting park land. Please correct me if I’m wrong.
Absolutely no reason for a fire on Chimney Tops Trail...It wasn’t an accident, for sure.
Chimney Tops is a short, steep trail.
So sad. Prayers offered.
i believe they were saying ‘arson’
which will be the code-phrase used to cover ‘muslim jihad attack’
Arson is an easy terrorist tool.
Fire in Colorado, close to Denver, Monday night.
From the article: “The cause of the fire remains under investigation. West Metro Fire says smaller fires have been reported on Green Mountain over the past month, but haven’t said if they’re related to Monday’s blaze.”
http://www.9news.com/mb/news/local/cause-of-green-mountain-fire-under-investigation/357206055
Unless it was backpackers/partiers building a fire.
The AT shelters are popular with the “drinking in the woods” crowd in the winter when thru hikers are scarce.
Three days ago there were wildfires set in Tel Aviv by terrorists. I’d start looking for a connection. I don’t believe in coincidences.
I don’t know...I saw a picture of the mountain where Chalet Village and Ober Gatlinburg Ski Lodge is located...The whole mountain was aflame...
I wouldn’t rule out domestic, angry Hillary supporters trying to get even with conservative Tennessee.
Some of the trash I’ve seen thrown by disaffected leftists toward Trump supporters would back up my suspicions.
It appeared that way at night, to the point that people feared for Ober Gatlinburg. But, Ober Gatlinburg was fine. It was just the houses and vacation cabins, with surrounding woodlands largely unscathed. Go back and look at photos and video of the aftermath from the day after. The helicopter flyover video is particularly revealing of this.
Arsonists are bad people but why do we have these tinderbox areas that have not taken measures to protect structures.
The big story is the disaster caused by an uncontrollable fire, not how it was started.
Chimney Tops Trail is a ways away from the AT...There would be no backpackers on that trail...
I’ve hiked that trail many times...It is a short, steep climb..
In fact, I used to jump off the bridge at the trailhead for dollars from tourists when I was a kid...Bridge is about 12 feet off the stream and the pool was about 3 feet deep...I’d land flat on my butt...Never hit bottom...LOL
OK...
If the fire is moving fast enough, and they did say 80 MPH winds, the fire could continue from tree to tree and burn out behind it while landing on tar (shingle) roofs, etc.
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