I hope this doesn't get this post banned but I am asking for prayers for the folks in east Tennessee. Gatlinburg, Pigeon Forge and folks in the area are in a world of hurt. Fires have and continue to destroy businesses and homes. For those who have never been there it is (or at least was) one of the most beautiful areas in the country. Thanks.
Andy
We rent a cabin every year up there from some folks here in town that own it. They still don't know if it made it, but it ain't looking good. It's about halfway up Ski Mountain Road.
Wife and I were planning our annual trip there soon.....will have to wait...don't really want to see what it looks like after the fires...beautiful country...
I can remember the first time I went to the observation areas above Gatlinburg, a truly awesome place.
The hiking trails on the way up are also a great trek.
There are a lot of surveyors in that area, good friends of mine. Sure hope they are okay.
I feel for you guys. Fire can be devastating.
This picture was taken this summer while a fire burned 30 acres of my property.
The fire department told us (as well as our neighbors) that nobody was coming to fight the fire and that were needed to leave or die.
We ended up staying to the end and after the wind shifted, we were able to put out a half mile of fire with 3 piss pumps and a small water tank in the back of a truck. The only way I can describe it is surreal. I think there were 8 aircraft assigned to the fire including one very large jet.
The shift in wind helped us get in there and fight the fire - because of that, the fire exploded down wind and burned several of the neighbors homes. Lesson I learned is that you can never be over prepared.
Jimmy Cleveland, post: 401624, member: 91 wrote: There are a lot of surveyors in that area, good friends of mine. Sure hope they are okay.
I've spoke to two who live in the immediate area and both are fine. There are likely others in the area that I just don't know.
Most I know that live over that way have lost their homes and businesses as well.
There were/are other fires toward Cosby and Del Rio and Hot Springs as well. Some of those have been off and on all fall.
Although some of the roughest country to survey, it sure is beautiful when you're out there.
Many people ask the meaning of why it is the Volunteer state or why the sports teams adopt the name...
Well, you're about to see it in action!
Lots of homes lost according to the news.
Very sad.
Mom said she was driving west to a friends funeral, today. Before gatlinburg, roads were closed and they had to turn back. Similar to what's been said, lots of homes apparently destroyed.
This isn't the most common thing out here, in the eastern US. wasn't but a couple
Of years ago they had a big one near myrtle beach. Don't think they were importing firefighters but, burned many an acre.
Send rain. Please.
Everyone should be giving Dolly a big thank you!
http://dollywoodfoundation.org/
$1000 bucks a month for 6 months will go a long way for these people.
She's good people.
I have done a lot of photo control for all of that area, some counties multiple times, beautiful area. I have told people in the past that it is the #2 area of the country i would want to live (behind western PA). I can't imagine the horror of having huge fires threatening your house and your life. Never thought of that area a prone to fires like out west.
I got married in Gatlinburg in 01. It holds a sweet spot in my list of favorite places.
John Hamilton, post: 401970, member: 640 wrote: I have done a lot of photo control for all of that area, some counties multiple times, beautiful area. I have told people in the past that it is the #2 area of the country i would want to live (behind western PA). I can't imagine the horror of having huge fires threatening your house and your life. Never thought of that area a prone to fires like out west.
This was a rare thing for this area. Normally even in a dry year we get enough rain to keep the fires manageable. This year we've had no rain to speak of for months, then the leaves fell. For weeks we've had fires in the area with daily air quality alerts due to the smoke being trapped in the valley by the weather. Firefighters were brought in from around the country, but they say that fire has to be fought differently here than out west due to the differences in the fuel supply. They had most of fires largely contained until we were hit with high wind Monday afternoon. We had 20-30 mph steady winds in the valley and they reported gusts in the mountains as high as 80 mph. We have no experience in this area with wind driven fires so when a 500 acre fire at the Chimney Tops area of the national park turned into a 15,000 acre inferno in a matter of a couple of hours, no one was prepared or saw it coming. Truly a once in a lifetime event in this area.
One problem is that our society has pressured the government to eliminate fire from the natural landscape.
I think the Native Americans routinely used fire to manage the landscape across much of the country. This needs to resume (in my opinion).
These forests appear to be hardwood mostly? In my experience hard wood forests recover fairly quickly as many of the trees re-sprout from the root base.
In the last 30yrs the local fire departments have made burning a near criminal offense.
What once was a periodic tool for timber maintenance is now prohibited.
The occasional burn to kill undergrowth kept the wildfires to a minimum and maintainable with the lower supply of tinder.
The practice is no longer taught or allowed and the forests are mostly a grown over mess full of tinder building up season by season.
One result is that when there is a fire, there are no safeguards in place except to hope that public roads and waterways will slow them down.
