NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) – Prosecutors have dropped arson charges against two juveniles in connection with the Tennessee wildfires that killed 14 people and tore through thousands of homes and businesses in November, a law enforcement official said Friday.
In December, Dunn announced charges of aggravated arson against the juveniles in connection with a fire in the remote Chimney Tops area of Great Smoky Mountains National Park that officials have said blew several miles (kilometers) into Gatlinburg, ravaging the vacation town. The juveniles are from Tennessee, but not Sevier County, where the fires spread, Dunn has said.
But after months of investigating, prosecutors can’t prove the youth were responsible because there were other factors contributing to the seriousness of the fires, such as 80-mph (130-kph) winds and downed power lines that ignited flames, District Attorney General Jimmy Dunn said in a statement.
“Because of this intervening weather event, the state is unable to prove the criminal responsibility of the two juveniles beyond a reasonable doubt for the devastation that occurred outside the Great Smoky Mountains National Park,” Dunn said.
Attorney Gregory P. Isaacs, who represented one of the boys charged, said Friday that the evidence showed the juveniles didn’t cause the death and devastation.