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.
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...
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.
Houses use kiln-dried lumber. Very dry! Trees and bushes have a much higher moisture content. Maybe that’s why?