Wildfires (Gatlinburg: power lines, neighborhood, live)

[rm10269123]

Do the wild fires affect the chattanooga area at all? And is this a common occurrence in TN? Thanks for the responses

[An Einnseanair]

1) It is not a common occurrence. We are (or were, before last night and today) in the middle of a historic drought. The recent rains were the first significant rainfall in almost six months. Also, authorities believe that the majority of fires were intentionally set by arsonists for whatever reason. Several arrests have been made. I have lived here over 10 years and never seen this.
2) This particular year, with major wildfires surrounding the city (to the south, south-east, north, north-east, and north-west), we've had multiple days where the smoke had major impacts in the valley. But other than a few neighborhood evacuations and a very few structures lost, the fires themselves haven't had affect on the city. The arsonists generally set them in remote areas. The recent fire blow-up that tore through Gatlinburg was a freak occurrence. Extreme winds (>60mph) blew through ahead of a front which (a) exponentially spread existing fires in the GSMNP through blowing embers and (b) knocked down trees and power lines which started new fires.