It’s been six years since wildfires in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park descended the mountains to consume parts of Gatlinburg, Pigeon Forge and Wears Valley in Sevier County. For those who were there, it seems like yesterday.
“It is strange how the smell of a campfire off in the distance can bring it all back…” begins an eloquent post shared Monday on the Sevier County Sheriff’s Office social media. Six years to the day the fires exploded in the county.
A timeline of the wildfire begins five days earlier, with a smoke column spotted by park rangers above Chimney Tops.
Before it was over, the fires claimed the lives of 14 people: Rev. Dr. Ed Taylor, John Tegler, Marilyn Tegler, Alice Hagler, Robert “Bobby” Alan Hejny, Constance Reed, Chloe Reed, Lily Reed, Elaine Brown, Pamela Johnson, Bradley Phillips. Jon Summers, Janet Summers, and May Vance.
Two unnamed juveniles were originally charged with aggravated arson — charges that were later dropped due to a lack of evidence.