NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) – Insufficient warning by Great Smoky Mountains National Park officials contributed to dramatically less time to evacuate people during a Tennessee wildfire that killed 14 people in November 2016, according to a report released this week.
The outside review ordered by the city of Gatlinburg and Sevier County says reliance on limited information from the National Weather Service and park officials meant that the predicted speed and severity of the impending firestorm was inaccurate.
Winds nearing 100 mph (160 kmh) blew embers several miles (kilometers) from the park into Gatlinburg and downed power lines to spark more fires, killing 14 people and damaging or destroying about 2,500 buildings.
“More timely and accurate communications from the (park) personnel would have helped the city to prepare sooner for what was a catastrophic event,” the report states.
Fighting an extremely challenging fire was made even tougher by the lack of visibility, hurricane-force winds, exceptional drought conditions, loss of communications, multiple blocked routes of egress and rapid progression of the fire, the report states.