TN! Front and center! Roll call and SITREP

[mitunnelrat]

Saw a blurb about major fires in your beautiful state. I "believe" its well E-SE from everyone, but I'm not 100% on that.

How are all y'all?

[Domeguy]

Toasty...my new girlfriend Mary and I had the pleasure of spending this weekend from Saturday through today in a time share arrangement she has in Gatlinburg. We were right in the middle of it. I'll write more later...still enjoying my new girlfriend.

[ElevenBravo]

bewbs. New bewbs. Lucky. Had mine for 23 years, same old bewbs.

EB

[mitunnelrat]

Dont worry, EB. You said youre eating better and being more active. Those 23 year old, hair bewbs will be pecs, eventually.

[bacpacker]

I live a little more than a half hour away from The Burg. We go to that general area several times a year to hike and fart around. Something this big has not happened in this area in over 100 years according to reports from the Department of Forestry.

A little back ground on this. We have had upwards of 100 different fires burning across the state. Some small, some 1000's of acres. These have been going on for over a month. Last week a small fire was set on the Chimney Tops trail in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. As of Sunday afternoon the Chimneys fire was about 50 acres. By Monday afternoon we had a front push into the area and the fire had blown up to 500 acres. Late afternoon we started getting 50+mph wind guts and it picked up coals and burning embers and spread the fire over 20 miles as the crow flies. This carried it into Gatlinburg and surrounding areas. Early evening saw even higher winds, the highest reported at 87mph.
This fire just erupted into a major fire in about an hour. I saw one report of a couple who was vacationing in Gatlingburg, who drove to Pigeon Forge for dinner. By the time they finished eating Gatlinburg was being evacuated and couldn't get back to their stuff. We were on ham radio last night relaying information as needed and just kept getting reports from areas further away from the Burg. Finally around 9pm we started getting some rain that spread thru the area (ended up with .68 here at the house, most we have had since July in total). This helped slow the spread of the fire and helped the 100's of firefighters that have traveled here over the past month to help.
This morning and thru the day repots have been coming in with some numbers.
14,000 folks evacuated
2500+ in shelters
150 structres destroyed in Gatlinburg
probably more than 500 homes/cabins destroyed. This is a total I have been keeping from all the affected areas. Some structures were rental cabins and were empty at the time.
4 hospitalized with 3rd degree burns, 14 injured, and only 3 fatalities so far. these numbers will surely rise, but I am so grateful it wasn't worse

My bottom line learned from this, ALWAYS have a bag, or three, packed and ready to grab and go with essential items should something like this ever happen to you. Almost to a person during interviews with evacuees, they had 2-5 minutes to get out and leave. most left with the clothes on their back and nothing more. many of them will go home to nothing. I am also very grateful to the many firefighters who have came here from across the country to help us out. Our folks were overwhelmed and wore out by the time they atarted rolling in.

This area is typically pretty damp, we average between 45-60 inches of rain per year. Right now we are nearly 11" behind and almost no rain since July (less than .5" total). We also just had leaf fall over the past month and added plenty of fuel to the already dry soil.

Almost every fire in the state has been confirmed as arson. Some of the folks have already been caught and jailed. Earlier on Monday there was reports of people in the mountians striking and flipping matches. After seeing some reports from Isreal last week about Palstinians starting wildfires, I just have to wonder if some of these are not the acts of terrorist. In the past 2-3 years there has been a large uptick in the number of middle eastern folks everytime we go to the park. All this just makes me wonder if 2+2=4.

Sorry to be so long winded, just wanted to pass along some info.

[ElevenBravo]

Not my bewbs, my wife's bewbs... Dome has new toys and Im jealous.

[Sniper-T]

lol DG, is this the EMT, or the Gun nut, or the ???

lol

BP. that's crazy! stay safe, my friend!

[bacpacker]

News just gave an update. Now have 4 confirmed dead, 40+ injured. 700+ structures damaged or destroyed in the county. At this time an unknown number of missing. On the plus side we had good rain overnight that has helped knock down the fires some. We still have almost 16000 acres burning in the general area, mainly will lands now.

On top of that, we were woke up twice overnight with tornado warnings. Come to find out one touched down in Athens, Tn, about 50 miles from here. We had high winds and almost 2" of rain overnight here at the house. The touchdown caused 20 injuries and several buildings destroyed. It just goes on.

[ElevenBravo]

Were getting your rain, NOW. Wow. And Im sure its not as serious as what you already had...

EB

[bacpacker]

Sorry bout your bewbs EB :)

[Domeguy]

Ok, the new bewbs have been put away and sent back home. So...to answer a few questions, the new bewbs come in a matching set with an attractive baker attached. She owns two bakery's, and I'm up to about 498lbs. Damn, she makes good fritters. Yes, I think she is a keeper.
Now for the serious side, everything bacpacker has said is so true. We arrived in Gatlinburg on Saturday night, and ash was falling onto the cars. We drove out to Pigeon Forge on Sunday, and things were getting smokey, but not to bad, with ash still falling. We were going to go into the shopping district of Gatlinburg Monday, but the smoke was so bad, they were closing all the shops around noon. People were walking around with masks on, and the wind gusts were around 30-50 mph. She we drove back into Pigeon Forge to get tickets to the Christmas Show she wanted to see near the Titanic show. We bought the tickets, and bought a few things, then went back to Gatlinburg. The wind was nearly blowing me off the road, and the smoke made visibility only a out 50 feet. I felt we might need to get the hell out of there in a hurry that night, so I backed her SUV in the spot heading out, loaded up as much as we could, and ate a bit and tried to take a nap around 4pm. But with all of the smoke and wind gusts now up to 80 mph, that didn't happen. We still didn't know the extent of what was happening and how close the fires had jumped. We left around 6:30 pm to go to the show, and I can now say luckily, but a large tree had blown down across the road out of the resort about 1 minute before we went down the road. We were the first one to find it, and I reported it to the main desk. The crews were working on a tree down in the area, and came to clear the road out. This delayed us by about 30 minutes. So when the road out was open, we headed out to Pigeon Forge, as we had already bought the tickets. But as luck would have it, the delay let me see the fire on the mountain that by now had reached all the way to the road about 1/2 mile after we came out of the tunnel headed into town. I realized this was probably not normal.
I knew they were going to close the road in and out within minutes, and turned around as soon as possible. I could see them closing the road of the other side, and fire was all around on each side of us, with smoke and burning embers everywhere. Fire was erupting everywhere, and the were closing this side back into Gatlinburg behind me. If the tree hadn't fallen and kept us in the resort, we would have been stranded in Pigeon Forge. But we got back, changed clothes, and I packed everything except meds and the clothes we were wearing. I would have left then, but I had no idea where there fires were, and all it would take was another fallen tree, and we could have been trapped in the car in a fire storm. So we switched on the tv, saw we were quickly being surrounded by fires, and I knew we would be forcefully evacuated soon, and just waited for it. The tv went out, the internet went out, then the lights started to flicker on and off. I already had the hot tub filled with water, and had wet towels in it, ready to jump in, get soaked, and run out if needed. We had wet towels over our mouths in the room as the smoke was getting bad in the room.
About 10:30pm, they pounded on the room to get out, and the lights then went out. I had flashlights ready for this, and we were out the door in 1 minute, and were one of the first ones out of the resort. I think they delayed the evacuation as long as possible to bring in as many fire and police to help with the evac. All roads were blocked off except the one headed out. Since I was one of the first out, it was pretty low key, not too many cars on the road yet, but things were starting to catch on fire within 1/2 mile of were thr resort was. Within that 1/2 mile, I kid you not, entire mountains were on fire on each side of us. People can make fun of me being a prepper, but if I had not been expecting it and gotten prepared, the outcome could have been very different.
As bacpacker stated, people did die, and more are still missing. Probably billions of dollars worth of property were lost to the fires.
And also, as he stated, they were most likely started on purpose so some asshole could get his rocks off to watch it of prove how important he could be in trying to fight it. I hope they all burn in Hell, as this was the most scary and dangerous situation I have ever been in my life. But I must say all of the people in charge I saw had done one hell of a good job. Equipment and people were coming in by the hundreds. We passed firetrucks, electric powerline trucks, cable trucks, ect. by the dozens headed toward the area. I even saw a salt truck, which I think they were going to use the plow to push fallen trees in the road, I can only assume.
And for the honeymoon, we are thinking of someplace more peaceful and quiet...like somewhere in the Middle East.

[ak474u]

Ok, the new bewbs have been put away and sent back home. So...to answer a few questions, the new bewbs come in a matching set with an attractive baker attached. She owns two bakery's, and I'm up to about 498lbs. Damn, she makes good fritters. Yes, I think she is a keeper.
Now for the serious side, everything bacpacker has said is so true. We arrived in Gatlinburg on Saturday night, and ash was falling onto the cars. We drove out to Pigeon Forge on Sunday, and things were getting smokey, but not to bad, with ash still falling. We were going to go into the shopping district of Gatlinburg Monday, but the smoke was so bad, they were closing all the shops around noon. People were walking around with masks on, and the wind gusts were around 30-50 mph. She we drove back into Pigeon Forge to get tickets to the Christmas Show she wanted to see near the Titanic show. We bought the tickets, and bought a few things, then went back to Gatlinburg. The wind was nearly blowing me off the road, and the smoke made visibility only a out 50 feet. I felt we might need to get the hell out of there in a hurry that night, so I backed her SUV in the spot heading out, loaded up as much as we could, and ate a bit and tried to take a nap around 4pm. But with all of the smoke and wind gusts now up to 80 mph, that didn't happen. We still didn't know the extent of what was happening and how close the fires had jumped. We left around 6:30 pm to go to the show, and I can now say luckily, but a large tree had blown down across the road out of the resort about 1 minute before we went down the road. We were the first one to find it, and I reported it to the main desk. The crews were working on a tree down in the area, and came to clear the road out. This delayed us by about 30 minutes. So when the road out was open, we headed out to Pigeon Forge, as we had already bought the tickets. But as luck would have it, the delay let me see the fire on the mountain that by now had reached all the way to the road about 1/2 mile after we came out of the tunnel headed into town. I realized this was probably not normal.
I knew they were going to close the road in and out within minutes, and turned around as soon as possible. I could see them closing the road of the other side, and fire was all around on each side of us, with smoke and burning embers everywhere. Fire was erupting everywhere, and the were closing this side back into Gatlinburg behind me. If the tree hadn't fallen and kept us in the resort, we would have been stranded in Pigeon Forge. But we got back, changed clothes, and I packed everything except meds and the clothes we were wearing. I would have left then, but I had no idea where there fires were, and all it would take was another fallen tree, and we could have been trapped in the car in a fire storm. So we switched on the tv, saw we were quickly being surrounded by fires, and I knew we would be forcefully evacuated soon, and just waited for it. The tv went out, the internet went out, then the lights started to flicker on and off. I already had the hot tub filled with water, and had wet towels in it, ready to jump in, get soaked, and run out if needed. We had wet towels over our mouths in the room as the smoke was getting bad in the room.
About 10:30pm, they pounded on the room to get out, and the lights then went out. I had flashlights ready for this, and we were out the door in 1 minute, and were one of the first ones out of the resort. I think they delayed the evacuation as long as possible to bring in as many fire and police to help with the evac. All roads were blocked off except the one headed out. Since I was one of the first out, it was pretty low key, not too many cars on the road yet, but things were starting to catch on fire within 1/2 mile of were thr resort was. Within that 1/2 mile, I kid you not, entire mountains were on fire on each side of us. People can make fun of me being a prepper, but if I had not been expecting it and gotten prepared, the outcome could have been very different.
As bacpacker stated, people did die, and more are still missing. Probably billions of dollars worth of property were lost to the fires.
And also, as he stated, they were most likely started on purpose so some asshole could get his rocks off to watch it of prove how important he could be in trying to fight it. I hope they all burn in Hell, as this was the most scary and dangerous situation I have ever been in my life. But I must say all of the people in charge I saw had done one hell of a good job. Equipment and people were coming in by the hundreds. We passed firetrucks, electric powerline trucks, cable trucks, ect. by the dozens headed toward the area. I even saw a salt truck, which I think they were going to use the plow to push fallen trees in the road, I can only assume.
And for the honeymoon, we are thinking of someplace more peaceful and quiet...like somewhere in the Middle East.


I hear Aleppo is nice this time of year.

[bacpacker]

Holy crap DG. I didn't realize you were still up there Monday. Thought you left out Sunday. Good planning on your part getting ready. And yeah the crews are working their butts off trying to get things figured out. Got a long way to go.
Where were you staying at?

[Domeguy]

It was at the Bluegreen timeshare on 110 Mountain Loft Drive. We were going to stay at the resort until checkout time on Tuesday and leave Gatlinburg around 4pm on Tuesday.

- - - Updated - - -


I hear Aleppo is nice this time of year.

Thank you for the great advice...I'll Google it to see if I can also find a 5* honeymoon suite for a good price.

[bacpacker]

Glad you got out ok.

[eagle326]

It was at the Bluegreen timeshare on 110 Mountain Loft Drive. We were going to stay at the resort until checkout time on Tuesday and leave Gatlinburg around 4pm on Tuesday.

- - - Updated - - -



Thank you for the great advice...I'll Google it to see if I can also find a 5* honeymoon suite for a good price.

Hmmmm owns bakeries. Well she sure knows about hot buns. And BEWBS being what they are ; I'm sure you got a handle on them.
As for the honeymoon I'll offer my services as a body guard and BEWBS protector so you can just worry about having a good time. I'll keep a CLOSE EYE on them and as I'm a hands on type of guy. Now I don't offer this to just anyone but you're a special kind of Ant. :p

[Domeguy]

WOW...A gentleman of your high caliber and fine breeding, with hands on experience...how could I refuse such an offer! Mr. Eagle, sir, you have the job.

[Kesephist]

Salt truck.... at a guess they probably had that along with a couple of drop-in water tanks, to act as a pinch hit tanker truck, as well as using the plow as a debris clearer.

Looks like to me that a couple of additional pieces of gear coming out there will be a spikebacked fire axe and a Pulaski adze/axe.

[eagle326]

WOW...A gentleman of your high caliber and fine breeding, with hands on experience...how could I refuse such an offer! Mr. Eagle, sir, you have the job.

Thank you . That means the horse's head is safe. ;)

[Domeguy]

I did a Google search for "Aleppo Honeymoon Cabins". Oddly enough, what came up was about 20 ads for honeymoon packages in Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge. I guess we will need a fireproof wedding dress!

[eagle326]

I did a Google search for "Aleppo Honeymoon Cabins". Oddly enough, what came up was about 20 ads for honeymoon packages in Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge. I guess we will need a fireproof wedding dress!

Oh hell Dome. Go with what you entered into this world with ; butt ass naked. Now don't worry I got your babe totally covered with my hands on security. You go and enjoy the feast & dancing I'll have your BEWBS totally covered in a blanket security that not even you can break. Just kidding. :rolleyes:
Just remember I only have your best interest in mind.

[bacpacker]

Latest update is that 13 have died and 6 have been I'D at this point. 2 local women, 2 visitors from Canada, and the parents of 3 three burn victims that were taken to Vanderbilt burn center. 1000 structures in some state of damage. They finally got things settled down enough to let locals back in to check their property today, at least for all they have gotten open. Lots of destruction throughout. But in some of the burn areas there are standing and useable houses. Amazing.

[Stg1swret]

Been following the news accounts, this is a real tragedy. hats off to Dolly Parton for her efforts, she is going to donate $1000 for six months to each family that lost everything. The woman truly has a heart of gold. I hope that they catch the arsonists that started most of these fires. Prayers go out to all the ANTS affected.

[bacpacker]

Dolly has done a tremendous amount for this area for many years. I'm not surprised to see her step up now. BTW, folks have started donating to her foundation instead of the ARC because they know it will go to local's who have lost so much instead of being spread around wherever the ARC sees fit. They have already gave away loads of donated supplies to other organizations instead of giving them to folks who need them.

[Domeguy]

Hurray to Dolly and everyone who was in on any of the teams who helped all of us in harms way. If it wasn't to the local police, fire teams, and I'm sure, many of the locals who helped out...I'm sure the death toll would have been much higher. I would have evaced earlier, but I didn't know where the new fires were, and without their help, I still might be up there not knowing, and died because of it. I'm my opinion, they all did one hell of a job and saved many thousands of lives. I'm glad to know Dolly's foundation has stepped up to the plate and I will give my donations to them. Thanks for the updates guys.👍🏻