10 Years Later: Lessons We Can Learn from the Gatlinburg Wildfires

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Thursday, November 5th, 7pm EST on Zoom

It is a ghastly day for residents of East Tennessee to remember: November 28, 2016. On that date, the Chimney Tops 2 forest fire that began in the higher elevations of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park a few days earlier was blown out of the park into Gatlinburg and on towards Pigeon Forge. The original wildfire had been contained by the Park service and should have burned itself out. But instead , 80 mph winds blew burning embers onto drought starved yards, creating a multitude of fires. Ultimately, over 14,000 people were displaced or evacuated, and 14 lives were lost.

There are many lessons for us to learn from this historic fire event as climate changes continue to impact our daily life. In 2022, the University of Tennessee Press and UT Libraries published the book “Rising From the Ashes” created from numerous firsthand eye-witness accounts. Join us on Thursday, November 5 at 7pm EST via Zoom as UT Arboretum education coordinator, Michelle Campanis, and naturalist and former Gatlinburg resident, Stephen Lyn Bales, discuss “Rising From the Ashes” and the lessons learned from the 2016 Gatlinburg Wildfire.

This program is free, but you must register to receive the Zoom link and a copy of the recording. Closed captions are available. For questions or registration issues contact Michelle at mcampani@utk.edu.

This program is co-sponsored by the UT Arboretum Society (UTAS) and The American Museum of Science and Energy (AMSE).