The wildfire inside the Great Smoky Mountains National Park on Nov. 28, 2016. (Photo: Jason Willette/National Park Service)Poor communication by Great Smoky Mountains National Park rangers with Gatlinburg authorities undermined the initial response to last year's deadly wildfire and cost lives, a report released Monday found.
"Insufficient warning by (the park) contributed to a dramatically reduced time frame to conduct needed evacuations," the report concluded.
The 164-page report by ABS Consulting examined the response by Gatlinburg and Sevier County agencies to the Nov. 28, 2016, wildfire after the flames left the park, where the fire had begun five days earlier. The findings come after more than a year of questions from residents who want to know why the fire wasn't stopped before it reached the city and why they weren't told to evacuate sooner.
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