TENNESSEE

Gatlinburg preparing to reopen; firefighting efforts 'winding down'

Travis Dorman
travis.dorman@knoxnews.com

Eight days and more than 2 inches of rain after what officials have called Tennessee's worst fire in more than a century, the city of Gatlinburg is preparing to reopen, and the team battling the deadly blaze has begun dialing down efforts.

Rain falls as cars drive through downtown Gatlinburg, Tenn., Tuesday, Dec. 6, 2016.

"Things are really winding down, which is a good thing," Great Smoky Mountains National Park spokesman Warren Bielenberg said Tuesday. "We've had rain for three days, and there's been no fire growth. There's no active fires on the edges or anywhere. The only fire activity is basically underground in stumps or on the bottom sides of logs or inside larger logs. There's no other heat out there."

Five crews and some resources — engines, ambulances and the like — were demobilized Tuesday, and five more crews are slated to demobilize Wednesday, according to Bielenberg. By Friday, the incident management team will have transitioned from a Type 1 team, which handles "the most complex issues or incidents whether they're fires, hurricanes ... or anything" to a Type 3 team, which handles lesser events. The National Park Service has a five-level system of response.

Also Tuesday, authorities released the name of another of the 14 people killed in the fire last week.

Robert A. Hejny, 63, was discovered at Traveler's Motel in Gatlinburg, according to a joint news release from Sevier County, the city of Gatlinburg, the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency, and the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. He was the 13th of the 14 dead to be publicly identified so far.

The firestorm began when winds at speeds approaching 90 mph spread embers from a then-500-acre wildfire near the Chimney Tops trail at the Great Smoky Mountains National Park toward Gatlinburg. The winds downed power lines and felled trees, starting several new fires that raged through the resort town and surrounding Sevier County communities. More than 14,000 people were displaced, 160 people have been treated for fire-related injuries or illnesses, and nearly 1,800 homes and businesses were damaged or destroyed.

As of Tuesday night, the area within the Chimney Tops fire's perimeter was 17,006 acres, and the blaze was listed as 64 percent contained. The area within the Cobbly Nob fire's perimeter was 816 acres, and it was listed as 67 percent contained.

Those figures can be misleading, Bielenberg said, because the acreages listed don't necessarily represent how much land has burned or is burning, and the containment percentages don't necessarily reflect how close the fires are to being extinguished.

"There's lots of areas within that 17,000-acre perimeter that have not burned," he said. "Very seldom is there ever a clean burn where everything is burned within a fire perimeter. It's usually a burn mosaic. Some areas burn hot, some areas aren't burned at all and some areas are lightly burned."

Authorities have spent more than $5 million fighting the Chimney Tops fire, and more than $131,000 fighting the Cobbly Nob fire.

Gatlinburg residents will be able to return to their homes for good beginning Wednesday at 7 a.m., although a curfew will remain in effect from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. on Wednesday and Thursday. The city is slated to reopen to the general public on Friday at 7 a.m.

"Even though the fire hasn't been contained at 100 percent, the areas opening to the public have been deemed safe from further fire spread," according to another joint news release. "The area will continue to be monitored and patrolled by firefighters. Firefighters will maintain a presence in these areas until the fire is 100 percent contained.

"Even though there has been no fire spread, please use caution when entering the burned area. You should be prepared for other hazards that may be present on your property. These include, but are not limited to, hazardous trees (and) footing, smoking stumps, ash pits, parking, collapse of structural material and utilities. We will continue to mop up and patrol and provide for public and firefighter safety."

Major roadways will be open except for some closed to accommodate utility work. The Spur parkway is open only from Pigeon Forge to the Gatlinburg Welcome Center, and Wiley Oakley Drive and Cliff Branch Road remain closed due to "critical" utility work, according to a joint news release.

A boil water advisory remains in effect for the city. Many residential areas have been without water service due to the fire, and water usage from the firefighting activities and loss from fire-damaged structures has greatly affected the water supply, causing it to appear cloudy or discolored, according to a news release.

"Running a substantial amount of water through all outlets in the plumbing system should expel the discoloration within a period of time," the release reads. "The water supply for the downtown area has stabilized and is at full capacity. Water service in the east Gatlinburg area was not affected by this event."

The Sevier County fire came near what firefighters hope will be the end of a disastrous fire season in East Tennessee and across the Southeast. State figures list 1,427 forest fires burning 44,027 acres this year to date. An estimated 48 percent of those fires — and 79 percent of that damage — resulted from arson.

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