[TenTec] Gatlinburg Fires

[John Henry]

TEN-TEC was not affected in this fire.
It was isolated to an area around Gatlinburg and encroaching Pigeon Forge.
A good place for information online is www dot wate dot com, the local
channel 6 TV station.
There is a watch link with two video links, one for ongoing / current news
and the other is for breaking / following information. I typically jump
between them, can't figure out why both, but I'm not there, hah.
In a nutshell.
It started from suspected arson on the Chimney Tops in the Great Smoky
Mountains National Park.
We have been in a severe drought condition for several months now, probably
1 inch of rain total all summer long. Some wells have run dry.
So, add a careless cigarette or whatever caused it.
A fire gets started in the mountainous area where it is EXTREMELY hard to
fight due to the terrain.
And that evening that it started, 50+mph winds, with a few gusts at 87 in
the mountains, and that just turned it into the perfect firestorm that
drove it down into Gatlinburg.
Over 150 homes and buildings burned in the Sevier county area.
So far there were 3 deaths accounted to the fire.
All of my friends and family are ok, but searching for some relatives,
friends, etc.
Now, we did have rain last night, several inches, so, that may help put out
some of the fire, BUT, it will cause a lot more problems, more high winds,
and due to the amount of rain is causing more trees to fall, and where the
fire killed all of the grass, weeds, trees, etc., there are and will be a
lot of mudslides covering roads and other areas making it even harder to
get into certain areas to check on homes etc.
And, if that weren't enough, the storm last night was extremely severe with
more high winds and I had golf ball sized hail at the house, so I can
imagine that will cause more problems. Also, tornado south of Knoxville,
now under a new tornado watch for the whole area, etc. etc.

There are a LOT of firefighters from across the state coming in.
Poor guys from Putnam county were on the way when a major fire broke out in
Putnam count, burned down a building. So, good thing people do come to
help, but, it leaves their home area at risk in case something happens in
the meantime.
So, thoughts and prayers. Not only to those fighting it in Sevier County,
but also those that come to fight it,and their own home town.

This might be my only post for this, people can get more accurate or later
info at the wate dot com news website. If someone knows a BETTER location
for information, post it.
I don't know if all of this is true, but I did find a "what's ...." list.
Take it with a grain of salt, because on the night of the fire, TEMA
(Tennessee Emergency Management, Tennessee's FEMA) said that Ober
Gatlinburg was burned to the ground, for hours, then, Ober posted a video
of it completely in tact, they also said that all of Gatlinburg was
destroyed, only to find out later that it was not, ...

LIST: What's damaged, destroyed and intact
<http://www.13wmaz.com/news/local/gatlinburg-fires-whats-damaged-destroyed-and-intact/357978940>
[image: image]
<http://www.13wmaz.com/news/local/gatlinburg-fires-whats-damaged-destroyed-and-intact/357978940>
LIST: What's damaged, destroyed and intact
<http://www.13wmaz.com/news/local/gatlinburg-fires-whats-damaged-destroyed-and-intact/357978940>

Here is a list of structures and areas affected by the Gatlinburg
wildfires. The list is in alphabetical order. We will continue to keep this
updated as we fin...
View on www.13wmaz.com
<http://www.13wmaz.com/news/local/gatlinburg-fires-whats-damaged-destroyed-and-intact/357978940>
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73, KI4JPL
John Henry