Crews clean up, minister to wildfire victims
GATLINBURG — The falling tree charred by the wildfire creaked and popped until its towering limbs smashed into the ground.
Fragments of it flew into the air as the Tennessee Baptist Disaster Relief crew admired the skill of the man working the chainsaw.
The tree fell exactly where Wayne Parker wanted it — safely beside the burned-out shell of a home located just off the spur, the road that connects Pigeon Forge to Gatlinburg. The chainsaw team didn’t know the owner, but that didn’t matter. They were there to help as a part of the Tennessee Baptist Convention’s disaster response network, an all-volunteer ministry.
The home is one of the more than 2,400 structures damaged or destroyed by the historic wildfire that claimed 14 lives as it swept through the tourist community on Nov. 28. Once the town reopened to the public, Gatlinburg’s ubiquitous outdoor-Winterfest light displays that went up before the fire were as easy to spot as the burned homes and businesses left in the fire’s wake.
“This is just carbon copy,” Parker said. “Just house after house after house.”
Chainsaws hummed in the damp, cool mountain air as the crew cut down trees and chunked them into firewood on Dec. 13, about two weeks after the deadly blaze. Although they focused on tree clean-up, the team had a deeper mission.
“But our real goal here is to spread the love of Christ and to talk to the people that we meet,” said Parker, who is a member of First Baptist Church in Powell.
The five-man chainsaw crew from Knoxville-area churches was just one of many Southern Baptist disaster relief teams that headed to the Gatlinburg area in the aftermath of the fire. Husband and wife John and Kaye Thomas are coordinating the response out of First Baptist Church of Sevierville, sending out recovery teams and case after case of hot meals cooked at the church.
Many of the trained Southern
“But our real goal here is to spread the love of Christ and to talk to the people that we meet.”
WAYNE PARKER, MEMBER OF FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH IN POWELL, TENN.
Baptist volunteers are retired and respond to disasters across the country, rotating in and out as needed, Kaye Thomas said. They’re not the only relief force helping out in Gatlinburg, but they started working on the first night of the Gatlinburg fire, cooking a hot breakfast for first responders and victims.
Several chainsaw crews gathered at the Sevierville church building alongside Parker’s team. They got their assignments, ate a hot breakfast and grabbed their lunch before heading out for a full day’s work.
On site, Parker went over the game plan for clearing the downed trees, but before the crew got to work, they joined hands and prayed.
“Lord God, we thank you for this opportunity to come serve you. Lord God, we know there’s been a disaster here in this area and sometimes we don’t understand it. But Lord, understand it or not, we’re here to help, hopefully do your work and help this homeowner and to help this community,” Parker said.