our heart goes out to Mr. Vance on losing his beautiful bride of 60 years We cried tears for his most treasured love, his wife I have had my most important ppwork in a fireproof safe for years
I'm a Sevierville local, and going through that was terrifying. I remember seeing the glow over my backyard, packing a bag and getting ready to leave. The streets closest had already been evacuated. Luckily, the rain stopped it before it got us. Everytime we see smoke we panic now. It's wild, just how much this effects people.
We lost our retirement home down to ashes. Dec.2018 the new one was finished and what a wonderful Christmas Blessing. To this very day there is a lit candle in the evenings for the 14 lives lost.
We used to go every summer to these cabins 8:40 it was such a beautiful place...its a shame the amount of loss that has happened both life wise & nature wise
I live about 45 minutes to an hour from Gatlinburg, I remember that whole month, there was a wildfire in Walland just before this fire started, I remember walking to class in my sophomore year of high school outside in the haze of the smoke and the smell that everyone immediately recognized, even being all the way across the county from the fire we could see the huge clouds of smoke and smell it as if it was behind the school. Me and my mom even drove up to the mountains to see how bad the fire was, the whole mountain behind the fire department was engulfed in smoke and flames, we even watched a Blackhawk helicopter refill its water bucket at Perry's Mill, I'll remember those months and those smells for the rest of my life
My heart absolutely broke listening to Mr Vance recount his story that night. He lost his best friend of over 60 years. It was such a terrible tragedy that I don't think anyone is to blame for not evacuating early enough. Was truly a perfect storm that night. I hate how the news focuses on that crap. Focus on the rebuild and positives that can now be taken from it
I was there in December of 2018 and it is still as beautiful as before it will always be beautiful and god bless the people who had to suffer in the fire I will pray for the families may god bless them
I was in Tennessee last month with my son & daughter-in-law & grandson for vacation & in & around Gatlinburg I could still see signs of where the fire had traveled. My first time in pidgin forge/ gaitlinburg area & it’s amazing the beauty & how it’s grown back in 6 years
First of, my heart goes out to everyone affected by the fire in any way. I was there that night. I am in no way an expert on any of this, I’m not a meteorologist, fire expert, I’m just someone who wants to state a few things the way I saw them that night. My wife and I were in Gatlinburg fo our delayed honeymoon. We arrived at the BlueGreen Resort off of Hy 321, about 1/2 to 1 mile from the heart of Gatlinburg. When we got up on the 25, there was a coating of ash on my wife’s SUV in the parking lot. We heard there was a fire in the Smokey’s somewhere. The next day, we went out, and there definitely was smoke in the air, and on the 27th, all of the stores were closed in Gatlinburg due to the amount of smoke in the air. I knew then there could be a problem, so I started paying more attention to the news. On the evening of the 28th, the night of the fire, we were going to the opening of the Christmas show in Pigeon Forge, as my wife had bought tickets months earlier online. It was VERY smokey, and the winds were very strong. One on the things that might have saved us, was the fact a tree had blown down in the driveway heading out of the resort. It blocked the road for about an hour while they got the equipment out and started clearing the road. This delayed us to the show, and when we cleared the tunnel heading to Pigeon Forge, about 1/2 a mile down the road, we saw the entire mountain on out right on fire all the way to the white line on the side of the road. I told my wife we were turning around as soon as possible, an at the first chance we did. I saw in the mirror, a police officer closed the road right behind me. I knew an evacuation was eminent, but being from Lynchburg TN, I did not know which road would be open or closed. I backed our SUV in the parking space, and loaded everything we had into it. All we had was the clothes on our back and our meds. I filled the tub with water, and threw in the towels. ( I have to go to a doc appointment and will finish when I get back)
Well, I live in TN. I live about a hour or two away, the deadliest in tennessee history, caused by two teens! Pray for the families of the 14 people that died.
It sickens me that those kids got nothing more than a slap on the wrist. This whole justice system is screwed up in the head. Just a side note that if that was one of my kids they wouldn’t be able to still sit to this day. I’d want the courts to prosecute if they were my kids. They knew it it was dry and those kids didn’t need any matches. Just sad so many lives were taking over two stupid kids.
I lived in Knoxville at that time and remembering smelling the smoke and the air bring thick and hazardous. Then when I seen the news with them showing the wildfires in Gatlinburg, I broke down and started crying and prior to that I had plans to go to Dollywood but they shut down everything because of the evacuations and so forth
You can think the National Park Service. Even after receiving reports of high winds, nobody supervised the Chimney 2 fire the night before the firestorm. By the morning the fire had jumped lines to Chimney picnic area and Bullhead Ridge. By that afternoon fire had spread to Twin Creeks and Mynatt Park.
I did iaclean up with my high school 3 years after this happened there are still burnt trees standing. It was sad to see all the old home structures just sitting there. After we cleaned we went to a pool area and they said all there water was boiled and evaporated from the heat of the fire.
Just returned from our trip to Gatlinburg 2019 , may I say that this pizzeria is the Best and Most Reliable Delivery service and amazing food !! God is replacing His forest now and the people of Gatlinburg are the friendliest folks in the South . We live and we learn , we continue to grieve with the families of the Lost , we continue to move forward with the Gatlinburg folks because we live in Alabama , Gatlinburg has been on our vacation list since we married in 1987 and spent our Honeymoon there . We have always stayed on ski mountain as we just did and the rebuilding is going great !! Go See The New Gatlinburg !! You will fall Back in love !!
@@christianblackmtlrlz I second that motion?! All the destruction & lives lost because of a couple dumb asses who had no regulars to their actions!! Simply sad 😞 where were their heads at dealing with these delinquents betcha they moved out the area fast
I live here... and it was bad really really bad the truck was on fire only car we had to get out was a drag car a 88 trasnam I built in high school 502 big block we had to drive threw the fire it was all over the place the house the yard across the street. If it wasn't for having that dragster we wouldn't be here I don't think. .. it was so hot the plastic bumpers on the trasnam was melted by the time we got off...
I am from napa, and we had the wildfires last year in October. Many people were not warned as well, and were forced to evacuate on their own. I feel like we need better emergency notification systems because in some places, the fire hit in the early morning hours. People would wake up to their houses on fire or the fire right next to them. There needs to be a better way to inform people. Like program TVs so that when there is an emergency, it turns on, and makes a screech or siren noise that way if it is dead in the middle of the night then it wakes people up.
Looking back at this from 2023... how interesting: - High winds happen to match important fire - Winds happen to go in the direction of a town - Late or non-existent evacuation warnings - Strange legal wars between responsible officers - A level of devastation that compromises who will own that land in the future Keep watch people.
Reminds me of how California won't burn off underbrush in some of their forests. Could have this been prevented? I'm most certainly sure it could have been or at least lessened. My heart goes out to those who were lost in the fire as well as those who lost material possessions in it.
Do not rely on any outside authority when deciding to evacuate. Weather, fire, flood, whatever it may be when you get that gut feeling to get out, or when in doubt... get the hell out. The Lord be with these folks.
Yes, you are responsible for evacuating yourself. Do not depend on anyone, especially, local government. You can depend on local government to do one thing; send your property tax bill months before it is due.
@@LittleLulubee : Let me try to explain this complicated and difficult process to you: 1. Your local taxing authority often will SEND you your property tax bill, several months before it is due. 2. The savvy property owner will remit payment, approximately four (4) to six (6) days, before the due date.
They knew. The Weather services, NOAA, etc. warned them the winds were coming. RIP to Constance Reed and her 2 daughters. Mike, if you read this..I pray for you all of the time.
Not to mention the businesses that burnt along with the cabins and chalets, I saw on River Road where a large hotel was completely destroyed by the fire, it nearly got Ripley's Aquariam as well
It makes me sick the people that were never alerted of the fire even though people called saying the fire is here burning my home!! No your not being evacuated they say. Makes me sick. Hope they have new officials running that town!
Heather Dawn Arvin they should take notes on how california does evacuations with the reverse 911 systems and preventative evacuations, they evacuate anyone and everyone who could possibly be in the way of the fire so that there's no one in the way and if the fire changes directions theres nobody in the way and they can dedicate all the resources they have to suppression.
Heather Dawn Arvin I have friends that live in Sevierville and Gatlinburg. The fire was a perfect storm, the communication towers burnt down and the high winds made it move faster then anyone thought . Don’t blame the city for it
All those deaths and destruction caused by 2 teenagers playing with matches. They were caught on a GoPro camera by a hiker in the area where the fire started and they were playing with matches. And still they were allowed to escape justice. Sad.
We and others seemed to flood the area. Just got back and there was so many people that the traffic wasn’t even moving. I wasn’t even upset because it shows the area is healthy.
It's absolutely hilarious to read on here how trees and shrubs, bushes didn't burn. If you look at the video, they clearly did burn almost as if they were on fire.... Imagine that!! Also the area is home to many, many species of trees, a lot of them hardwood trees which do not burn the same way as softwood trees do. Conifer trees have a vertical ladder fuel arrangement which allows flame heights of 40 feet or more. I see here a lot of broad leaf trees which would support intense ground fires at the right time of the year. Especially in the spring and fall.
A match box ready to go up in smoke ,all it take is one reckless person leaving a pot on that gas stove and fall asleep ,cabins too close together ,one goes all goes.
I ended our vacation to Gatlinburg 3 days before this happened bc the smoke & fire embers were so close to our Chalet! So devastating! The city should have evacuated the entire town days before this event occurred! There should have never been one single death bc there were hundreds of warning signs before & thats why we used common sense & just ended our vacation early. Prayers to the families of those that lost their lives & to those that lost their personal items 🙏
Even to this day I can’t believe those who started it got off free. No jail time nothing. I lost a family friend in those fires. I been going to Gatlinburg for 29 years sometimes it’s 3-4 times a year. We always gone at least 1 week of the year. My parents are timeshare owners of treetops they been going 50+ years. I feel like the locals. Even today it’s not the same. I remember coming back and seeing the devastation. Homes burn down to the ground. Tree tops was gone basically. Homes that I seen every time that was basically land markers is gone. I remember watching it on tv too. Those kids should have been charged for something. They burn a bush in the smoky mountains park. They should be responsible for all 16 deaths. My heart still goes out to the families that lost a loved one. I just hope that there will never be a fire that bad in what I consider my home town.
I was nearby to where the fire spread to...those teens got off with nothing...they should've been charge for each death as well as PURPOSEFULLY starting the fire...u don't just accidently THROW a match...it was 100% deliberate...and they got away with murder as far as I'm concerned...no accident about it
No way .not even kind of close to the destruction of katrina. Not even close ...... I know it was horrible . and i love the smoky mts been there 17 times . and im not down playing what happend in the smokys . but katrina swallowed florida Alabama Mississippi Louisiana and texas .just saying.it was still very horrible. God bless the people of Gatlinburg Tennessee.
Furthermore, those who wantonly wish to angrily argue, dispute - disagree and debate these thoughtful decisions, we have let them go to the waysides and washed away and withered wayward. Facing flash floods and ferocious flaming forests fires. Nobody in their right minds are going to come and rescue them; inclusively, firefighters. They’re on their own, based upon what decisions and choices themselves made, thus to stay or leave. Voluntarily vacate - evacuate. No more meaningless mandatory; “forced evacuations”!!!
Edgar Vazquez the teens started the fire in the park. It’s not what caused everything else to burn down though. You’re only seeing what the media is showing . I live in Gatlinburg. Houses burned well outside the park and not from the teens
Not to the people and communities directly affected. To them it was the worst. We shouldn't diminish it by comparing it to another tragedy. Each tragedy is different - in its magnitude, in its impact.
2018 December Why had preventative fires not been done. I would think your fire departments would have done that. I saw something later that there had not been ANY preventative burning done in years . That's just stupid. Lives were lost. I don't think I ever want to be in Gatlinburg again. Y'all didn't give your residents any warning. How could you do that. I watched the videos. I don't understand why anyone would even want to live there. Pitiful, even now. You don't deserve to be be anyone come there. It's all on your Mayor, the fire department. Also, a video showed FEMA trailers there even before the fires. A
while i get the emotional stuff people have for the town, and the townspeople there, the hardship and stuff the town has been going through since that fateful day, the people gotta understand something. was the teens involved PROVEN to have caused intent to start a fire? you heard the man who said that something like the Galtlinburg fire was bound to happen due to the fact it was always burning before 1934 and that all the fuel sitting on the mountain was actually gonna end up burning anyways. the fuel ranges from leaves to pine needles, to leftover debris from a storm and all those things are flammable, meaning as the decades went by without a good forest fire, the fuel kept being piled up. if anything what those teens did was, and i don't mean to sound heartless here, was teach those people up there a lesson to prepare for the worst while at the same time letting the fuel that kept piling up over the decades, actually burn. as a fellow Tennessan, that fire couldn't be prevented, there was simply no way to prevent it, and much like the new madrid faultline that runs along the Mississippi and along Tennessees western border with Arkansas in some places, its easy to prepare, hard to clean up the mess. logic should dictate what the people can do moving forward, are they gonna prepare in advance by having some fireproof safes to keep important papers in and have some hotels and resorts literally have more fireproof rooms and amendities available, or will the people of Galtlinburg Tennessee rebuild and don't do much to prepare in case the next wildfire hits? we shall see in 9 years on the 10th anniversary of the fire. note: i actually went to pigeon forge and galtlinburg tennessee as a child, me dad and grandma all three of us stayed at a hotel in pigeon forge and drove to galtlinburg tennessee. i even have some of the old tokens from when me and my dad and grandmother went to the "ripleys believe it or not" place in galtlinburg.
Kermit Peck, yes, it was proven the teens started the fire. However, everyone involved with working that case is under a gag order. I lost my sister and brother-in-law in that fire, my 3 nephews were able to get out but suffered severe burns. The conditions were indeed "perfect" for a fire, however, pictures of the two boys playing with matches was captured by a hiker and turned into authorities. I don't wish anything horrible to happen to the teens, however they do need to have some sort of consequences for their irresponsible actions. I guess we'll never know if they will face any consequences since the gag order is in place.
Linda I am sorry for you losses. The Smokeys TN side is my favorite place in America and I grieved into lupus flare when this tragedy happenrd... my livelihood is in the Smokeys. I use to vacation twice a year been been sick the last 8 years:(
Onscene tv exorcism Uber Ponce inside you and me p and c Lucasta unleashing the extreme power of the Holy Bible on dough p and c Lucasta unleashing the extreme power of the Holy Bible warrior's nature's intelligence community service inside you and me p and c lost in time come outside underneath the grounds inside you and me TV celestial world inside you and me p and c Lucasta FEMA church congregation FEMA onscene tv massive powerful extreme exorcism world inside you and me TV marry wanna TV onscene massive powerful extreme exorcism world inside you and me p and c FEMA
![[documentary] Sevier County Wildfires: Stories from the Ashes](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/Rnsi-d7RL8M/mqdefault.jpg)
![[documentary] Sevier County Wildfires: Stories from the Ashes](/img/tr.png)
our heart goes out to Mr. Vance on losing his beautiful bride of 60 years
We cried tears for his most treasured love, his wife
I have had my most important ppwork in a fireproof safe for years
I'm a Sevierville local, and going through that was terrifying. I remember seeing the glow over my backyard, packing a bag and getting ready to leave. The streets closest had already been evacuated. Luckily, the rain stopped it before it got us. Everytime we see smoke we panic now. It's wild, just how much this effects people.
We lost our retirement home down to ashes. Dec.2018 the new one was finished and what a wonderful Christmas Blessing. To this very day there is a lit candle in the evenings for the 14 lives lost.
It has been 9 months since the fire, and I still remember seeing my neighbors houses burning, before I lost my own.
Brady Cato prayers to you and your family.
I just moved to Gatlinburg in August from Wisconsin. I’m so sorry you lost your home and so many others . So much is being rebuilt on Ski Mtn
Brady Cato the fire was very close to my house I thought it would spread to my house but I’m so sorry about your house
So sorry for your personal loss. My heart broke for those lives lost. Prayers to you from central Virginia 🙏🙏 god bless
How are you doing today, 6 years later? Prayers for you & your family
We used to go every summer to these cabins 8:40 it was such a beautiful place...its a shame the amount of loss that has happened both life wise & nature wise
I live about 45 minutes to an hour from Gatlinburg, I remember that whole month, there was a wildfire in Walland just before this fire started, I remember walking to class in my sophomore year of high school outside in the haze of the smoke and the smell that everyone immediately recognized, even being all the way across the county from the fire we could see the huge clouds of smoke and smell it as if it was behind the school. Me and my mom even drove up to the mountains to see how bad the fire was, the whole mountain behind the fire department was engulfed in smoke and flames, we even watched a Blackhawk helicopter refill its water bucket at Perry's Mill, I'll remember those months and those smells for the rest of my life
My heart absolutely broke listening to Mr Vance recount his story that night. He lost his best friend of over 60 years. It was such a terrible tragedy that I don't think anyone is to blame for not evacuating early enough. Was truly a perfect storm that night. I hate how the news focuses on that crap. Focus on the rebuild and positives that can now be taken from it
How about that man who lost his wife & 2 girls & it took them a week to find their bodies 😭😭
I was there in December of 2018 and it is still as beautiful as before it will always be beautiful and god bless the people who had to suffer in the fire I will pray for the families may god bless them
I'll never forget that night it was like driving through hell. I lost my best friend that night I'll never forget her. R.I.P. Chloe. 😣
I was in Tennessee last month with my son & daughter-in-law & grandson for vacation & in & around Gatlinburg I could still see signs of where the fire had traveled. My first time in pidgin forge/ gaitlinburg area & it’s amazing the beauty & how it’s grown back in 6 years
First of, my heart goes out to everyone affected by the fire in any way. I was there that night. I am in no way an expert on any of this, I’m not a meteorologist, fire expert, I’m just someone who wants to state a few things the way I saw them that night. My wife and I were in Gatlinburg fo our delayed honeymoon. We arrived at the BlueGreen Resort off of Hy 321, about 1/2 to 1 mile from the heart of Gatlinburg. When we got up on the 25, there was a coating of ash on my wife’s SUV in the parking lot. We heard there was a fire in the Smokey’s somewhere. The next day, we went out, and there definitely was smoke in the air, and on the 27th, all of the stores were closed in Gatlinburg due to the amount of smoke in the air. I knew then there could be a problem, so I started paying more attention to the news. On the evening of the 28th, the night of the fire, we were going to the opening of the Christmas show in Pigeon Forge, as my wife had bought tickets months earlier online. It was VERY smokey, and the winds were very strong. One on the things that might have saved us, was the fact a tree had blown down in the driveway heading out of the resort. It blocked the road for about an hour while they got the equipment out and started clearing the road. This delayed us to the show, and when we cleared the tunnel heading to Pigeon Forge, about 1/2 a mile down the road, we saw the entire mountain on out right on fire all the way to the white line on the side of the road. I told my wife we were turning around as soon as possible, an at the first chance we did. I saw in the mirror, a police officer closed the road right behind me. I knew an evacuation was eminent, but being from Lynchburg TN, I did not know which road would be open or closed. I backed our SUV in the parking space, and loaded everything we had into it. All we had was the clothes on our back and our meds. I filled the tub with water, and threw in the towels. ( I have to go to a doc appointment and will finish when I get back)
What else happened?
Touching positive stories at the end, and especially grateful for you having Emi Sunshine perform "Resting Place" at the end.
Well, I live in TN. I live about a hour or two away, the deadliest in tennessee history, caused by two teens! Pray for the families of the 14 people that died.
@Uncle Ed : No, hillary and soros.
So, 2 teens started the fire?
Ya and nothing happened to them...minor slap on the wrist...its disgusting...should've been jailed
It sickens me that those kids got nothing more than a slap on the wrist. This whole justice system is screwed up in the head. Just a side note that if that was one of my kids they wouldn’t be able to still sit to this day. I’d want the courts to prosecute if they were my kids. They knew it it was dry and those kids didn’t need any matches. Just sad so many lives were taking over two stupid kids.
I lived in Knoxville at that time and remembering smelling the smoke and the air bring thick and hazardous. Then when I seen the news with them showing the wildfires in Gatlinburg, I broke down and started crying and prior to that I had plans to go to Dollywood but they shut down everything because of the evacuations and so forth
You can think the National Park Service. Even after receiving reports of high winds, nobody supervised the Chimney 2 fire the night before the firestorm. By the morning the fire had jumped lines to Chimney picnic area and Bullhead Ridge. By that afternoon fire had spread to Twin Creeks and Mynatt Park.
I did iaclean up with my high school 3 years after this happened there are still burnt trees standing. It was sad to see all the old home structures just sitting there. After we cleaned we went to a pool area and they said all there water was boiled and evaporated from the heat of the fire.
Just returned from our trip to Gatlinburg 2019 , may I say that this pizzeria is the Best and Most Reliable Delivery service and amazing food !! God is replacing His forest now and the people of Gatlinburg are the friendliest folks in the South . We live and we learn , we continue to grieve with the families of the Lost , we continue to move forward with the Gatlinburg folks because we live in Alabama , Gatlinburg has been on our vacation list since we married in 1987 and spent our Honeymoon there . We have always stayed on ski mountain as we just did and the rebuilding is going great !! Go See The New Gatlinburg !! You will fall Back in love !!
0:13 Sad, that’s the home I stayed in on a trip there a few years back.
Those teens who set the fire are spawn of evil itself. They should rot in jail the rest of their miserable lives.
They got off totally free. That's justice for you.
Jonathan Moreno amen to your comment. Agenda2030 at large
@@christianblackmtlrlz I second that motion?! All the destruction & lives lost because of a couple dumb asses who had no regulars to their actions!! Simply sad 😞 where were their heads at dealing with these delinquents betcha they moved out the area fast
The teenagers responsible never got a charge either...ridiculous! They should've been charged and imprisoned.
Honestly you should not rely on someone to tell you to evacuate. If you are in question about not being safe, get out.
Very sad prayers to the lost souls an familys this will never be forgotten
It’s going to sound bold but that’s what insurance is for. I was there afterwards and you can still smell the burned buildings and trees. Sad.
I live here... and it was bad really really bad the truck was on fire only car we had to get out was a drag car a 88 trasnam I built in high school 502 big block we had to drive threw the fire it was all over the place the house the yard across the street. If it wasn't for having that dragster we wouldn't be here I don't think. .. it was so hot the plastic bumpers on the trasnam was melted by the time we got off...
Would love to see this car and your story
I am from napa, and we had the wildfires last year in October. Many people were not warned as well, and were forced to evacuate on their own. I feel like we need better emergency notification systems because in some places, the fire hit in the early morning hours. People would wake up to their houses on fire or the fire right next to them. There needs to be a better way to inform people. Like program TVs so that when there is an emergency, it turns on, and makes a screech or siren noise that way if it is dead in the middle of the night then it wakes people up.
I wonder if the causes mentioned here are anything like what brought about the Yosemite blaze we're seeing as of this comment being posted.
How much grew back..(trees)?
“Before History Repeats itself”
Wears Valley: And i took that seriously
My Fire Department came and helped. Downtown Gatlingburg was 150 degrees.
Looking back at this from 2023... how interesting:
- High winds happen to match important fire
- Winds happen to go in the direction of a town
- Late or non-existent evacuation warnings
- Strange legal wars between responsible officers
- A level of devastation that compromises who will own that land in the future
Keep watch people.
and now the kids r getting off free without anything done and thats some bullshit
awesome idea, those photographers amazing
Reminds me of how California won't burn off underbrush in some of their forests.
Could have this been prevented? I'm most certainly sure it could have been or at least lessened.
My heart goes out to those who were lost in the fire as well as those who lost material possessions in it.
Bro I’m in Tennessee rn and I see these mountains with bare trees
Do not rely on any outside authority when deciding to evacuate. Weather, fire, flood, whatever it may be when you get that gut feeling to get out, or when in doubt... get the hell out. The Lord be with these folks.
Yes, you are responsible for evacuating yourself. Do not depend on anyone, especially, local government. You can depend on local government to do one thing; send your property tax bill months before it is due.
@@Gallagherfreak100 Why should you send your property tax bill months before it's due?
@@LittleLulubee : Let me try to explain this complicated and difficult process to
you:
1. Your local taxing authority often will SEND you your property tax bill, several
months before it is due.
2. The savvy property owner will remit payment, approximately four (4) to six
(6) days, before the due date.
NYC loves ya Tennessee !
They knew. The Weather services, NOAA, etc. warned them the winds were coming. RIP to Constance Reed and her 2 daughters. Mike, if you read this..I pray for you all of the time.
"Almost as costly as Katrina"
Daum...
How much were some of those cabins worth
The big ones can be multimillion dollars, even the small cabins are incredibly expensive to own.
Actually Exceeded the financial damage incurred by Katrina.
She was way off. Katrina was $125 billion. The fires were $500 million.
Not to mention the businesses that burnt along with the cabins and chalets, I saw on River Road where a large hotel was completely destroyed by the fire, it nearly got Ripley's Aquariam as well
It makes me sick the people that were never alerted of the fire even though people called saying the fire is here burning my home!! No your not being evacuated they say. Makes me sick. Hope they have new officials running that town!
Heather Dawn Arvin they should take notes on how california does evacuations with the reverse 911 systems and preventative evacuations, they evacuate anyone and everyone who could possibly be in the way of the fire so that there's no one in the way and if the fire changes directions theres nobody in the way and they can dedicate all the resources they have to suppression.
Andrew Geier that’s another subject I could get into
Andrew Geier breaks my heart
Heather Dawn Arvin I have friends that live in Sevierville and Gatlinburg. The fire was a perfect storm, the communication towers burnt down and the high winds made it move faster then anyone thought . Don’t blame the city for it
Our officials are still here. Mind your own damn Business
thank for the news
sue!
My home town knoxville Tennessee I love tennessee
Did the forest come back? and did the trees survive?
Not really. I can still see a burnt patch from my house
Keith Sage a lot is growing back on top of the chimney tops and Ski Mtn road but you can still see what happened
All those deaths and destruction caused by 2 teenagers playing with matches. They were caught on a GoPro camera by a hiker in the area where the fire started and they were playing with matches. And still they were allowed to escape justice. Sad.
We and others seemed to flood the area. Just got back and there was so many people that the traffic wasn’t even moving. I wasn’t even upset because it shows the area is healthy.
something wrong with resolution.
rest and peace people
It's absolutely hilarious to read on here how trees and shrubs, bushes didn't burn. If you look at the video, they clearly did burn almost as if they were on fire.... Imagine that!! Also the area is home to many, many species of trees, a lot of them hardwood trees which do not burn the same way as softwood trees do. Conifer trees have a vertical ladder fuel arrangement which allows flame heights of 40 feet or more. I see here a lot of broad leaf trees which would support intense ground fires at the right time of the year. Especially in the spring and fall.
I live an hour from where the fires stared my school got supplies for them
A match box ready to go up in smoke ,all it take is one reckless person leaving a pot on that gas stove and fall asleep ,cabins too close together ,one goes all goes.
I ended our vacation to Gatlinburg 3 days before this happened bc the smoke & fire embers were so close to our Chalet! So devastating! The city should have evacuated the entire town days before this event occurred! There should have never been one single death bc there were hundreds of warning signs before & thats why we used common sense & just ended our vacation early. Prayers to the families of those that lost their lives & to those that lost their personal items 🙏
but live in Cookeville
I'm from Rickman, my bug-a-lug!
Even to this day I can’t believe those who started it got off free. No jail time nothing. I lost a family friend in those fires. I been going to Gatlinburg for 29 years sometimes it’s 3-4 times a year. We always gone at least 1 week of the year. My parents are timeshare owners of treetops they been going 50+ years. I feel like the locals. Even today it’s not the same. I remember coming back and seeing the devastation. Homes burn down to the ground. Tree tops was gone basically. Homes that I seen every time that was basically land markers is gone. I remember watching it on tv too. Those kids should have been charged for something. They burn a bush in the smoky mountains park. They should be responsible for all 16 deaths. My heart still goes out to the families that lost a loved one. I just hope that there will never be a fire that bad in what I consider my home town.
I felt so bad for Mr. Vance poor man lost his wife on his bit
if you think this is bad.. check out cali fires. camp fire run thro an entire town in 4 hours
And now history is slowly repeating itself
And what became of the two highspeed idiots that started the fire?
Now come on! You really think two boys did this? Time to think outside the box now.
I was nearby to where the fire spread to...those teens got off with nothing...they should've been charge for each death as well as PURPOSEFULLY starting the fire...u don't just accidently THROW a match...it was 100% deliberate...and they got away with murder as far as I'm concerned...no accident about it
Wow! Depend on the government with one's life is foolhardy. How about looking out for your own life? Come on, folks!
Absolutely right.
This is their Mayor for life and a curse on Jimmy Dunn
Why do we deal with drought. Seed the clouds. Get rain. It works.
I didn't hear many local accents in this video.
Where was the county EMA????
Why would they even put the non residential wedding couple in it really NO ONE cares about that that almost ruined this for me
I could see the fire from my house we had to evacuate
fun fact I live in the state that this city is at gatlinburg
We don't use Ouija boards in emergency Management.
No way .not even kind of close to the destruction of katrina. Not even close ...... I know it was horrible . and i love the smoky mts been there 17 times . and im not down playing what happend in the smokys . but katrina swallowed florida Alabama Mississippi Louisiana and texas .just saying.it was still very horrible. God bless the people of Gatlinburg Tennessee.
Furthermore, those who wantonly wish to angrily argue, dispute - disagree and debate these thoughtful decisions, we have let them go to the waysides and washed away and withered wayward. Facing flash floods and ferocious flaming forests fires. Nobody in their right minds are going to come and rescue them; inclusively, firefighters. They’re on their own, based upon what decisions and choices themselves made, thus to stay or leave. Voluntarily vacate - evacuate. No more meaningless mandatory; “forced evacuations”!!!
😢
If the teens didn’t start the fire 🔥
Edgar Vazquez the teens started the fire in the park. It’s not what caused everything else to burn down though. You’re only seeing what the media is showing . I live in Gatlinburg. Houses burned well outside the park and not from the teens
Wow! That's a mystery!! Maybe the aliens???
The teens are your Lee Harvey Oswald
Lol GAG ORDER which means we fucked up!!
:(
Birthday
Good documentary, but a drop in the bucket compared to katrinas damage.
Not to the people and communities directly affected. To them it was the worst. We shouldn't diminish it by comparing it to another tragedy. Each tragedy is different - in its magnitude, in its impact.
2018 December
Why had preventative fires not been done. I would think your fire departments would have done that. I saw something later that there had not been ANY preventative burning done in years . That's just stupid. Lives were lost. I don't think I ever want to be in Gatlinburg again. Y'all didn't give your residents any warning. How could you do that. I watched the videos. I don't understand why anyone would even want to live there. Pitiful, even now. You don't deserve to be be anyone come there. It's all on your Mayor, the fire department. Also, a video showed FEMA trailers there even before the fires.
A
while i get the emotional stuff people have for the town, and the townspeople there, the hardship and stuff the town has been going through since that fateful day, the people gotta understand something. was the teens involved PROVEN to have caused intent to start a fire? you heard the man who said that something like the Galtlinburg fire was bound to happen due to the fact it was always burning before 1934 and that all the fuel sitting on the mountain was actually gonna end up burning anyways. the fuel ranges from leaves to pine needles, to leftover debris from a storm and all those things are flammable, meaning as the decades went by without a good forest fire, the fuel kept being piled up. if anything what those teens did was, and i don't mean to sound heartless here, was teach those people up there a lesson to prepare for the worst while at the same time letting the fuel that kept piling up over the decades, actually burn.
as a fellow Tennessan, that fire couldn't be prevented, there was simply no way to prevent it, and much like the new madrid faultline that runs along the Mississippi and along Tennessees western border with Arkansas in some places, its easy to prepare, hard to clean up the mess. logic should dictate what the people can do moving forward, are they gonna prepare in advance by having some fireproof safes to keep important papers in and have some hotels and resorts literally have more fireproof rooms and amendities available, or will the people of Galtlinburg Tennessee rebuild and don't do much to prepare in case the next wildfire hits? we shall see in 9 years on the 10th anniversary of the fire.
note: i actually went to pigeon forge and galtlinburg tennessee as a child, me dad and grandma all three of us stayed at a hotel in pigeon forge and drove to galtlinburg tennessee. i even have some of the old tokens from when me and my dad and grandmother went to the "ripleys believe it or not" place in galtlinburg.
Kermit Peck, yes, it was proven the teens started the fire. However, everyone involved with working that case is under a gag order. I lost my sister and brother-in-law in that fire, my 3 nephews were able to get out but suffered severe burns. The conditions were indeed "perfect" for a fire, however, pictures of the two boys playing with matches was captured by a hiker and turned into authorities. I don't wish anything horrible to happen to the teens, however they do need to have some sort of consequences for their irresponsible actions. I guess we'll never know if they will face any consequences since the gag order is in place.
Linda I am sorry for you losses. The Smokeys TN side is my favorite place in America and I grieved into lupus flare when this tragedy happenrd... my livelihood is in the Smokeys.
I use to vacation twice a year been been sick the last 8 years:(
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