Fire, Let’s Wait and See

​Why did the firefighters take so long to put out the Gatlinburg fires? Fires took down most of the forest and several buildings in the Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge area the week of Thanksgiving. Tourist and locals were evaluated out of the destruction. There are several videos on a variety of social media sites show the horrifying fires the surround the area. The Travis family was in the mountains during the week before Thanksgiving, recalls seeing the fires, but never saw any fire fighters around.

​Rain is forecast for today, and it may help the fight as rains on Wednesday did, Commissioner Adam Putnam and Gary Hester said. However the rain did not help, because it brought wind which helped the fire spread faster and further. The firefighters did put out the .5 acre of fire because they thought the rain would take care of it, but that was not the case. The fires spread variously throughout the wilderness. The woods, and wind, and the local gas were the fuel for the fire. Now Gatlinburg is in a state of emergency because they held off putting out the fire.

​The two immature teens will be facing jail time for lighting matches when the fire fighters could have solved the problem all along. Debbie a visitor every year says, “It’s a wonder it hasn’t happened before now with all the fire pits all around the cabins.” Should the children be punished in jail for something that could have been prevented if the fire fighters took action? Should the parents be to blame for not teaching their kids not to light matches in the woods, or was it just an accident? The court investigation is still underway.

Sources:

http://www.wthr.com/sites/wthr.com/files/field/image/DowntownGatlinburgFire.jpg

http://i2.cdn.cnn.com/cnnnext/dam/assets/161129172046-09-gatlinburg-fire-1129-super-169.jpg

Bouffard, Kevin. “Nearly 80 firefighters battling more than 5,500-acre brush fire in East Polk; potential still exists for more fires to start.” News Chief. News Chief, 20 Feb. 2017. Web. 22 Feb. 2017. <http://www.newschief.com/news/20170217/nearly-80-firefighters-battling-more-than-5500-acre-brush-fire-in-east-polk-potential-still-exists-for-more-fires-to-start>.

2