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.
The Smokies are very rainy, not tinderbox areas at all. This has been an unusually severe drought. Cutting back the trees and vegetation doesn’t necessarily work here as it does in the west, soil erosion and landslides resulted back when timber was clearcut, and would result again if doing so for fire prevention. But, fire breaks and roads haven’t been maintained, and that was a problem driven by environmentalism, I’ll grant you that.
Houses use kiln-dried lumber. Very dry! Trees and bushes have a much higher moisture content. Maybe that’s why?
When they issued a burning ban here, we knew it was going to be hard to enforce. Between hunters and partiers, people are always building fires. The best the cops could do is patrol the fire roads in the National Forest. Still, you find camp sites all over the forest.
If terrorists lit the fires, I would expect them to claim it. What’s the point of terrorism if people don’t think anyone did it?
Fall leaves, dry and brittle, are still on those trees. The trunks don’t look scorched. If it was a rapidly moving ground fire fed by ground litter, leaves primarily, then wooden structures would be at high risk, true, that makes sense. But, there are condos and such on mountaintops burned out, too, and they appear to be concrete or at least stucco. Trees standing with fall leaves all around them. Doesn’t make sense.
Fire resistant structure construction is a known technique. But, you see very little to none of it east of the Miss.
A ground fire intense enough to cause a house to be rapidly engulfed is intense enough to ignite a tree. They get superheated and explode if the moisture content is high.
National park.
“They get superheated and explode if the moisture content is high.”
I’ve seen that happen! I was watching thunderstorm from my back window when lightning struck a big old Sassafras tree about 20 feet from the window. It exploded! Little pieces of it found in neighbor’s yards!
Israel to the courtesy phone.
People in the rural south hate pines and poplars, they’re softwood, shallow roots, high moisture content. Explode when struck by lightning. Clearcutting back during the Depression or even before meant that most of the trees standing for decades were these fast-growing softwoods. All manner of odd beliefs sprung up, such as poplars “draw” lightning, or even that dogs do, because they died when the poplar or pine they were chained to were struck. I don’t hate pine and poplar, but don’t want them anywhere near the house. I do hate chaining dogs.
Don’t disregard the possibility of muslim terrorism.
No need to smuggle weapons or destructive devices across the border.
No chance of being apprehended with guns or explosives.
Just get a book of free matches and buy a gallon of gas for your non-existent lawn mower or power washer.
There are a lot of those, not necessarily churches but structures that wouldn’t easily burn. That’s why I’m questioning it.
I saw that and wondered the same thing.
OMG!! I had not thought of that!!
I’m inclined to think these fires were set. Gatinlburg has gotten the most attention but there are fires from just south of Bristol to halfway through the eastern part of the state. That’s a lot of area!
Cross reference to the UT Chattanooga enrollments ... blood and fire, two aspects of Islamic lust.
OOPS...sorry for the size.
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