2016 Great Smoky Mountains wildfires

2016 Great Smoky Mountains wildfires
Smoke from the Chimney Tops 2 Fire
Location	Tennessee, United States
Statistics
Date(s)	November 28, 2016 (2016-11-28) – ongoing
Burned area	17,904 acres (72 km2)
Cause	Arson
Buildings destroyed	2400+
Injuries	134
Fatalities	14
Perpetrator(s)	Two juveniles charged with aggravated arson.

The 2016 Great Smoky Mountains wildfires are a complex of wildfires which began in late November 2016. Some of the towns most impacted are Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg, both near Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The fires have claimed at least 14 lives, injured 134, and are one the largest natural disasters in the history of Tennessee.

As of December 12, the fires had burned more than 10,000 acres (15 square miles) inside the national park, and 6,000 acres in other parts of the area. At least 14,000 area residents and tourists were forced to evacuate, while over 2000 buildings were damaged and/or destroyed.

One of the largest wildfires is the Chimney Tops 2 Fire, which has burned more than 10,000 acres, and closed the Chimney Tops Trail.

The Great Smoky Mountains wildfires are the deadliest wildfires in the eastern U.S. since the Great Fires of 1947, which killed 16 people in Maine. In addition, the fires are also the most deadly and destructive of the 2016 Southeastern United States wildfires.

Local news outlets feature continuing live coverage of the situation.

The Chimney Tops 2 Fire was originally reported on November 23, 2016. No suppression activities were initiated and on November 24, 2016 park fire officials delineated containment boundary made of natural features which were hoped to contain the fire. On November 27, while the fire was still inside the containment boundary, three Chinook helicopter dumped water on the fire in an effort to mitigate its spread. Humidity values for this day dropped to as low as 17 percent during a period of "Exceptional" drought. A National Weather Service report issued on Sunday predicted wind gusts up to 40 mph the following day. On November 28, park employees observed that the fire had spread to the Chimneys Picnic Area north of and outside the containment boundary. Shortly thereafter fire was reported some distance further to the North in the park behind a residential area known as Mynatt Park. Throughout the afternoon and evening of November 28, numerous fires developed in the Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge Areas as a result of wind-driven sparks or downed power lines. A separate named fire destroyed much of the Cobly Nob subdivision east of Gatlinburg. Winds as high as 87 mph knocked down trees, which in turn started fires when they hit power lines. Because of power outages to some pumping stations on November 28 and because other pumping stations burned, hydrants quickly went dry on November 28, and Gatlinburg Fire Chief Greg Miller first asked for help from all of Sevier County and later from the entire state.