Gannett

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Officials should have doused a 1.5-acre fire in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park days before high winds created a megafire that swept into Gatlinburg, Tenn., former U.S. Forest Service firefighters said.

At the very least, said retired employees with nearly 200 years of firefighting experience, officials in the National Park should have summoned every resource available when alerted Nov. 26 of the expected high winds.

“I’ve written for years that the best way to keep fires from becoming megafires is to attack them with overwhelming force, both on the ground and from the air,” said Bill Gabbert, who writes an online blog about wildland fires and aviation resources to battle fire.

“People say that is very expensive, but it is not as expensive as losing 14 lives and $500 million in lost structures.”

A month after historic fire, Gatlinburg rebuilds

Gabbert has written three articles on wildfiretoday.com about the Gatlinburg fires, providing technical data about fire conditions and aerial resources available to firefighters.

Four other former U.S. Forest Service firefighters agreed park officials didn’t pay attention to the severe drought, low humidity that provided a tinderbox for flames, available options to quell the slow-moving fire before winds made the flames uncontrollable and alarming weather forecasts.

National Park Deputy Superintendent Clay Jordan, however, said all the options outlined by park Fire Management Officer Greg Salansky, who oversaw the Chimney Tops 2 fire, “made sense to me.”

“There was no way the fire could have been extinguished before the winds came,” said Jordan.

When the winds came, the fire ignored Salansky’s containment plan.

“Much to our surprise, it had spotted across Newfound Gap Road to Bull Head Ridge a half mile to a mile away,” Jordan said.

“Our fire manager has never seen fire spot that far. It was unheard of around here.”

An investigation by the Knoxville (Tenn.) News Sentinel also found:

• Near extreme drought conditions and low humidity levels, even without a high wind forecast, should have prompted immediate action to extinguish the Chimney Tops 2 fire when first discovered Nov. 23;

• Although National Park officials said they established a 410-acre containment zone around the 1.5-acre wildland fire, no one turned the first spade of dirt for several days to contain the flames;

Gatlinburg mayor: 'We're going to just take this one day at a time'

• A hazardous weather outlook from the Morristown office of the National Weather Service two days before the disaster warning of wind gusts of more than 60 mph should have been “a call to action” for firefighters, but no direct attack on the fire was initiated;

• Park officials should have requested additional firefighters before Nov. 27, increasing chances enough fire could be extinguished before winds carried embers miles toward Gatlinburg;

• When additional firefighters were requested, officials thought 27 would suffice to control the fire, but eventually nearly 800 firefighters joined the battle;

• In an apparent breech of policy, no one monitored the Chimney Tops 2 fire when high winds swept flames to other ridges a mile away; and

• The first direct attack on the fire didn’t occur until it had grown to 35 acres four days after it was discovered, and that suppression started late Nov. 27, limiting the number of airborne water dumps on the flames.

“It bears looking at how those decisions were made, not to blame somebody, but to avoid issues in the future,” said Barry Hicks, a retired U.S. Forest Service smokejumper with 41 years of service.

Flames march to Gatlinburg

Flames jumped from ridgetop to ridgetop during the night of Nov. 27. Firefighters were assigned to stop flames threatening the picnic area below Chimney Tops, but by 11 a.m. the fire covered about 500 acres.

Salansky's containment lines had failed.

By 11:30 a.m., fire had spotted to the Twin Creeks science and visitor facilities, about 1.5 miles from the park’s boundary.

Want to help Gatlinburg? Come visit, biz owners say

“For a fire to do that, it has to hop a ridge, burn and create embers to hop to the next ridge,” Jordan said. “For a fire to move three miles in a few hours is impressive.

“None of our firefighters have ever seen a fire hop like that in the Southeast in such a short time.”

The fire was responsible for 14 deaths, 191 injuries, damage or destruction to more than 2,460 structures and in excess of $500 million in damages.

The National Park Service said Thursday an "Individual Fire Review" will be conducted of the Chimney Tops 2 fire.

"A team will be appointed by the NPS’ Division of Fire and Aviation Management, which reports to the Associate Director for Visitor and Resource Protection," the park service said.

The National Park Service, however, will not launch the review until the agency is sure the examination will "not interfere with the criminal investigation underway." The agency will coordinate the beginning of the review with the U. S. Attorney’s Office and the 4th Judicial District Attorney General, which is prosecuting the two teens accused of starting the fire.

Wildfire burns away Gatlinburg's Vegas-style wedding industry

The News Sentinel submitted four pages of questions and requests for clarifications about the fire to Jordan and park spokeswoman Dana Soehn and asked whether Salansky could be interviewed.

“Thank you for reaching out to us with your questions and requests for clarifications,” Soehn responded. “We appreciate your ongoing efforts to provide accurate information in your articles.

“At this time, we are unable to fully respond to your request for information related to the Chimney Tops 2 Fire due to the active, ongoing investigation related to the two juveniles charged with arson."

Follow Don Jacobs on Twitter: @jacobswrite

Related

Questions linger about wildfire alerts during Gatlinburg fire

Gatlinburg man who lost wife, 2 daughters in fire forgives accused teens

Obama declares Tennessee wildfire a major disaster