Wildfire in Gatlinburg, Tn 2016

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Just curious, with all of the wailing concerning how DEI policies in the Blue State of California have failed so badly in the handling of the wildfires in LA, what was the problem in Gatlinburg ?? I cannot believe that the failure of allowing a wildfire to get out of control in Tennessee was due to DEI policies. Also can’t believe the failure to not contain a wildfire in Tennessee was due to all of the wasted money spent on climate change mitigation policies.

What was it in the policies of deep red Tennessee that allowed a wildfire to get out of control like that ?
I’m sure many on this board were calling for state and local Tennessee political heads to roll while that was going on, but I can’t find the posts here. And Gatlinburg is much, much less populated than LA. So the non DEI, non Climate-Change affected Tennessee State and Local governments, as well as the local/regional Fire Departments should have made short work out of it. How did they fail sooooooo badly ?

( my opinion is that it is kind of spelled out in the word "wild"fire. but the folks out in LA sure aren’t getting that type of benefit of doubt, so I’m looking forward to read comments about how Tennessee could have failed so badly )

Remembering the Gatlinburg Wildfires five years later
Flames erupted in a remote area with steep terrain that made access to the fire difficult for firefighters. Crews spent Thursday through Saturday working to establish a containment area lower down the mountain. Helicopters made bucket drops to slow the spread of the fire.

On the fourth day, winds picked up and the fire spread, but the Gatlinburg fire chief said projections showed no immediate threat to Gatlinburg.

Despite the predictions, on Monday, Nov. 28, dry weather and extreme winds caused the fire to grow rapidly. The chopper dropping water had to be grounded. That evening, wind gusts of up to 87 mph sent embers flying into Gatlinburg, wreaking havoc on the city and surrounding communities

Fourteen people were killed, and 191 people were injured in the fire. Flames destroyed nearly 2,500 homes and left an estimated $2 billion in damage

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That is interesting. I am surprised they were not blaming this fire on Obama. It must have been before the far right became “Woke”.

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Netanyahu is a known fire starter.

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

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It was caused by arson, 2016 Great Smoky Mountains wildfires - Wikipedia .
In Southeast Tennessee and Northern Georgia, we were having the same problem with mountains being set on fire. It was arson.

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“It was caused by arson”

yup, I read that. My point is that the wildfire in Red State Tennessee got massively out of control. Since there is/was no DEI or Climate-Change measures being enacted in Red State Tennessee, why did the wildfire get out of control ?

All of the belittling of the Californian effort to control the LA wildfire is blaming the woke/DEI/wasted-money-on-climate-change-mitigation. There was ZERO woke/DEI/wasted-money-on-climate-control-mitigation in Tennessee.

So how did those Red State geniuses, the ones kicking California while it’s down, how did they manage such a pathetic response to what in comparison was a “mild” wildfire ?

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I won’t disagree with some of the points you are trying to make, but the following interview with the LA fire chief, Kristin Crowley, sure doesn’t paint a very good picture.

Staggering images appears to show around 100 fire trucks sitting idly in a repair lot as fires ravage the city.

The pictures, captured by a local activist, shows scores of essential firefighting vehicles sitting in the LA Fire Department’s Bureau Of Supply and Maintenance lot on North Avenue 19 in the city’s northeast.

LA fire chief Kristin Crowley said in an interview with CNN: ‘We have over 100 fire apparatus out of service. Having these apparatus, and the proper amount of mechanics would have helped.’

The LAFD has a total of 183 trucks, meaning that more than half of the city’s fire trucks are out of commission as the fires continue to burn through dense urban spaces.

It comes just three months after the LAFD made a request to the city’s council to replace the entire fleet at the cost of $96.5million.

The LAFD said in its request: ‘Many vehicles have surpasses their expected service life, leading to increased maintenance costs, reduces parts availability and potential downtime.’

The fire service also requested more than $1.9million to restore 16 maintenance positions ‘deleted’ in last year’s budget.

It said in its request: ‘The positions support fleet maintenance, equipment engineering, purchasing and warehouse management and distribution.’

The footage, captured by a local activist, shows scores of essential firefighting vehicles sitting in the LA Fire Department’s Bureau Of Supply and Maintenance lot

Having these apparatus, and the proper amount of mechanics would have helped’

LA fire chief Kristin Crowley said in an interview with CNN: ‘We have over 100 fire apparatus out of service. Having these apparatus, and the proper amount of mechanics would have helped’"

The positions requested include one truck operator, one tire repairer, four heavy duty equipment mechanics, nine mechanical helpers, one carpenter, one general automotive supervisor, two administrative clerks and one storekeeper.

Over the last 3 years, we have been clear that the fire department needs help.’

She added that she has emphasized how ‘understaffed, under-resourced, and underfunded the LAFD is’, adding: ‘I rang the bell that these additional cuts could be very very devastating for our ability to provide public safety.’
Dozens of fire trucks waiting for repair while fires ravage LA

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lol, so the incompetency shown in LA was due to DEI, but the incompetency shown in Red Gatlinburg was just bad luck ??

My point is that if all of the Red State blowhards are foisting all the blame in LA on DEI, then how did the identical incompetence happen in Red Gatlinburg ? There sure wasn’t any DEI affecting the decision makers in Tennessee, but they still did a terrible job.

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Helicopters were used to fight the mountain fires. It is being done in California, too. What happened in Tennessee and possibly California, was criminal. It had nothing to do with DEI, etc.

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Have you fought a wild fire in 100 mph winds? Or any fire in 100 mph winds?

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I am not a firefighter. However, helicopters are used to fight mountain fires.
I understand about the wind problem that California is having.
There have been people arrested for arson in California, District Attorney Announces Charges in Pacific Palisades and Altadena Looting and Azusa Arson | Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office .

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I’ve watched some of the video of the wildfire in LA and the one in Gatlinburg. People are clueless if they think the fire can be stopped while the winds are that high. It is appalling that the right-wingers rant and rave about how poorly it was handled in California, but do not have a word to say about how poorly they themselves handled it in Gatlinburg.
( I’m not referring to anybody who posted on this thread,
I’m sure mistakes were made in LA and in Gatlingburg,
and they can be learned from ).

This is sickening behavior by Americans.

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You cannot fly a helicopter in 100 mph winds. You should not fly a plane (take off and landing are of critical risk) in 100 mph winds.

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Trailer trash that want a new day of make believe where people who studied and think are equal to drunks.

Some of that has been earned by what passes are professionalism.

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I haven’t seen any critical commentary about the actual firefighting response, but I don’t watch the news 24/7 either.

What I have seen/read is criticism for the lack of preparation for the possibility of an event as we are seeing now. What I have seen/read about the LA fire chief gives me the impression that she is very competent in her position. More politicians should have listened to her.

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It’s pretty much all over twitter and people coming out of the woodwork. There was someone passing around Twitter commentary acting like it was the news.

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TX is deep red.
This fire in 2024

Burned 1M+ acres.
{ The Smokehouse Creek Fire burned an estimated 1,058,482 acres (1,653.878 sq mi; 428,352 ha) in Texas and Oklahoma and was completely contained on March 16,[1] becoming the second largest fire in US history dating back to 1988. It }

I don’t remember the left blaming the right for it.

Right now, whipping the far left liberals is ascendant. So, it gets media circus attention.

The dog whistles are red herrings, diverting attention and allowing TPTB to scapegoat and declare they’ve “found and fixed the problem. Move along, nothing more to see”.

Bread will be distributed.

And next year, CA will burn again, and another scapegoat will be ID’d.

And FL or TX or ? will be hurricaned, Buffalo will get 2m of blizzard, OK City a tornado, a frenzy of attention then on to the next disaster corn circus.

It is the way.
:face_with_peeking_eye:
ralph

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Correct. And all this incessant scapegoating, blaming, is bad policy, bad character. And we fight each other while someone runs off with the money. Just identify the problem, find the best solution for greatest number of people, and work together to make it happen.

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I am starting to think it might have been Jewish Space Lazers that caused the fire.

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You are not far off the mark with that one:

The most painful part of the last 8 years has been the national elevation and the championing of idiocy. Worse than any fascists, communist or just a common felon being elected to office.

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"and allowing TPTB to scapegoat and declare they’ve “found and fixed the problem. Move along, nothing more to see”

I am soooo sick of this. And I don’t really consume that much “news” on social media, and the only time I ever watch Fox or CNN or MSNBC is in short youtube “highlights”. I am repulsed by the opinion talking heads on Fox, they are not worth any attention. I will watch some Fox Business.

Not sure how we fight back. I live in the Upper Midwest, and i don’t slam victims of hurricanes down south, or victims of wildfires in the south or west. As a Country we can learn from these disasters, so they are worth discussing. But we won’t learn anything, the hatemongers choke out everything.

Gonna get a whole lot worse over the next 4 years and probably beyond. And these disasters are about as Macro Economic as can be, the cost of owning a home is going to go up everywhere, from home insurance to property taxes, to lumber for building, you name it. Congress sure isn’t going to provide any leadership. TIG will provide “negative” leadership,lol.

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