Fire that savaged Gatlinburg was pushed by wind

Chimney Tops blaze hopped from ridge to ridge before hitting city, leaving 13 dead.

GATLINBURG, TENN. — The wildfire that popped up on a steep, rugged peak in the Gre at S moky Mount a i n s National Park was just one of a dozen that fire crews had been fighting over the last month amid a severe drought.

But the Nov. 2 3 fire on Chimney Tops proved to be extraordinary, jumping containment lines and hopping from ridge to ridge on a path to the resort city of Gatlinburg, killing 13 people along the way.

In a first look at the origins of the fire, park officials said nothing could have stopped the wind-driven fire from spreading over 16,000 acres in just 24 hours.

Inside the park, soot, ash and blackened trees covered the forest floor. The gorgeous vistas of tree-topped mountain ranges were scarred by large areas of blackened soil and trees. Small plumes of smoke rose from smoldering hotspots.

In some areas, the wooden guardrails along the road were charred or even gone. The park buzzed with the sound of chain saws as crews from all over the country removed fallen trees and debris. Bark burned right off the trees, exposing the trunks, and large stumps were still hot to the touch.

Deputy Park Superintendent Jordan Clayton said the initial fire on Chimney Tops, a double-peaked ridge line about 4 miles from Gatlinburg, was caused by a person or people. The fire started near the end of a popular Deputy park superintendent

hiking trail.

“Whether it was purposefully set or whether it was a careless act that was not intended to cause a fire, that we don’t know,” Clay ton said. “The origin of the fire is under investigation.”

For several days, the fire worked its way through the thick layer of leaves on the forest floor as helicopters dumped water on it to slow its spread. But on Monday, low humidity, drought conditions and wind gusts of up to 40 mph turned the area into a tinderbox.

“T h i s e n t i r e a r e a wa s shrouded in smoke,” Clayton said.

The winds kicked up even more and carried embers to ridge tops and valleys half a mile away and new fires popped up all around. The park alerted Gatlinburg and Sevier County officials to be on the lookout.

At 5 p.m. Monday, the cit y of Gatlinburg had no reported fires. Within an hour, more than 20 structures were on fire. Wind gusts as high as 87 mph toppled trees onto power lines, setting more fires. Clayton said in his 30 years as a park ranger and official, he’s never seen a fire spread so quickly.

“The national park will heal quickly. The community will heal slowly,” he said.