2016 Southeastern United States wildfires
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The 2016 Southeastern United States wildfires were a series of
wildfire A wildfire, forest fire, bushfire, wildland fire or rural fire is an unplanned, uncontrolled and unpredictable fire in an area of Combustibility and flammability, combustible vegetation. Depending on the type of vegetation present, a wildfire ...
s in the
Southeastern United States The Southeastern United States, also referred to as the American Southeast or simply the Southeast, is a geographical region of the United States. It is located broadly on the eastern portion of the southern United States and the southern por ...
in October and November 2016. , the
U.S. Forest Service The United States Forest Service (USFS) is an agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture that administers the nation's 154 national forests and 20 national grasslands. The Forest Service manages of land. Major divisions of the agency in ...
reported tracking 33 wildfires that had burned about .


Context

Firefighters from 21 states including
Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...
and
Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...
were part of the effort to fight the blazes.
North Carolina Governor The governor of North Carolina is the head of government of the U.S. state of North Carolina. The governor directs the executive branch of the government and is the commander in chief of the military forces of the state. The current governor, ...
Pat McCrory Patrick Lloyd McCrory (born October 17, 1956) is an American businessman, politician and radio host who served as the 74th governor of North Carolina from 2013 to 2017. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as the 53rd Mayor ...
said 1600 firefighters fought 19 fires in his state, at a cost of $10 million since October 23.
Arson Arson is the crime of willfully and deliberately setting fire to or charring property. Although the act of arson typically involves buildings, the term can also refer to the intentional burning of other things, such as motor vehicles, wat ...
is believed to be responsible for several fires in the
Nantahala National Forest The Nantahala National Forest ( /ˌnæntəˈheɪlə/), is the largest of the four national forests in North Carolina, lying in the mountains and valleys of western North Carolina. The Nantahala is the second wettest region in the country, after the ...
where 46,000 acres had burned as of November 18. The Asheville Regional Airport reported no rain for ten days after October 8, 2016, after which the area was considered to be in severe drought, while
Cherokee The Cherokee (; chr, ᎠᏂᏴᏫᏯᎢ, translit=Aniyvwiyaʔi or Anigiduwagi, or chr, ᏣᎳᎩ, links=no, translit=Tsalagi) are one of the indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands of the United States. Prior to the 18th century, t ...
,
Clay Clay is a type of fine-grained natural soil material containing clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolin, Al2 Si2 O5( OH)4). Clays develop plasticity when wet, due to a molecular film of water surrounding the clay par ...
and Macon Counties were considered to be in extreme drought. A month later these three counties and
Graham Graham and Graeme may refer to: People * Graham (given name), an English-language given name * Graham (surname), an English-language surname * Graeme (surname), an English-language surname * Graham (musician) (born 1979), Burmese singer * Clan ...
and part of Swain were in exceptional drought, and ten other counties were in extreme drought. Only a trace of rain fell in the month ending November 15 and the airport reported a deficit of for the year 2016 as of November 18. As of December 8, even after rain, much of Georgia and Alabama continued to be in exceptional drought, while Tennessee and the western Carolinas were in extreme drought.
Lightning Lightning is a naturally occurring electrostatic discharge during which two electric charge, electrically charged regions, both in the atmosphere or with one on the land, ground, temporarily neutralize themselves, causing the instantaneous ...
and accidental human activity such as
campfire A campfire is a fire at a campsite that provides light and warmth, and heat for cooking. It can also serve as a beacon, and an insect and predator deterrent. Established campgrounds often provide a stone or steel fire ring for safety. Campfires ...
s may have started some fires. Poor air quality was an issue in
Asheville Asheville ( ) is a city in, and the county seat of, Buncombe County, North Carolina. Located at the confluence of the French Broad and Swannanoa rivers, it is the largest city in Western North Carolina, and the state's 11th-most populous cit ...
and other parts of western North Carolina.


Western North Carolina fires

The Tellico Fire in North Carolina began October 23 in
Swain County, North Carolina Swain County is a county located on the far western border of the U.S. state of North Carolina. As of the 2020 census, the population was 14,117. Its county seat is Bryson City. Four rivers flow through the mountainous terrain of Swain County: ...
and had burned over . The Boteler Fire in Clay County, North Carolina began October 25 and had burned as of November 18. The Party Rock Fire in North Carolina, which McCrory called number two in the country, began November 5 and as of November 18 had burned and resulted in the evacuation of 1000 people in the areas of
Bat Cave The Batcave is a subterranean location appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. It is the headquarters of the superhero Batman, whose secret identity is Bruce Wayne and his partners, consisting of caves beneath his persona ...
, Chimney Rock and
Lake Lure Lake Lure is a town in Rutherford County, North Carolina, United States. In 2020 the town population was 1,634. Lake Lure was incorporated in 1927, and acquired the lake after which it is named in 1965. History In 1902, Dr. Lucius B. Morse and ...
. People were allowed to return to Chimney Rock on November 21, 10 days after they left. Firefighters who came mostly from the eastern part of the state had watched buildings in the towns while local fire departments covered their areas. Lake Lure was the headquarters for operations. On November 30 a man was arrested for setting two Macon County fires. As of December 6, substantial rain had helped greatly in the effort to bring under control as many as 34 fires which had burned 60,000 acres.


North Georgia fires

The Rough Ridge fire in the Cohutta Wilderness of Georgia, believed to have started from a lightning strike October 16, 2016, had burned almost by November 20, making it one of the largest fires ever in Georgia. The Rock Mountain fire was about and caused the evacuation of Dream Catcher Cover north of Tate City.


East Tennessee fires

On November 11, 2016, a Chattanooga man was arrested for setting three separate fires north and west of the city. Over 500 acres had been burned in connection with these fires. Governor
Bill Haslam William Edward Haslam (; born August 23, 1958) is an American billionaire businessman and politician who served as the 49th governor of Tennessee from 2011 to 2019. A member of the Republican Party, Haslam previously served as the 67th mayor of ...
issued a burn ban for 51 counties starting on November 14 through December 15. On November 16, 2016, two men were arrested for arson in separate wildfire incidents in Tennessee. In Sequatchie County, an Alabama man admitted to dropping a cigarette in a pile of leaves, watching it burn and leaving without putting it out. In Monroe County, a resident was arrested for starting a burn on personal property, against the burn ban, that got out of control. , Tennessee Division of Forestry reported 64 fires that had burned 17,734 acres. The largest was in Morgan County in the White Oak Circle area covered about 1900 acres but was contained. Another on Neddy Mountain in Cocke County had burned 1116 acres but was mostly contained. By November 21, just 95 acres were reported still burning in Tennessee, and at least half of the state's fires were reported to be started in connection with arson. On November 28, the Chimney Tops 2 fire in the
Chimney Tops Chimney Tops is a mountain in the central Great Smoky Mountains in Tennessee. It is above sea level. Chimney Tops is a double-capstone knob on the eastern slope of the Sugarland Mountain massif, which stretches north-south across the north-centra ...
of the
Great Smoky Mountains National Park Great Smoky Mountains National Park is an American national park in the southeastern United States, with parts in North Carolina and Tennessee. The park straddles the ridgeline of the Great Smoky Mountains, part of the Blue Ridge Mountains, whi ...
spread with the aid of strong winds and dry conditions, the fire quickly broke into multiple fires and spread across the mountains above and around
Gatlinburg, Tennessee Gatlinburg is a mountain resort city in Sevier County, Tennessee, United States. It is located southeast of Knoxville and had a population of 3,944 at the 2010 Census and a U.S. Census population of 3,577 in 2020. It is a popular vacation res ...
. By the evening hours the fire had reached the downtown area of Gatlinburg, resulting in the evacuation of over 14,000 people, along with causing damage in and around the town. By November 29, the wildfires had claimed at least three lives. An additional four people were later confirmed dead the next day. As of December 4, the Chimney Tops 2 fire had burned 17,006 acres. A total of 14 people died and 134 others were injured in the Smoky Mountains fires, while over 2,400 structures were burned. Damages were totaled to over $500 Million. On December 8, the burn ban was lifted for four of the 51 counties in Tennessee to aid cleanup of tornadoes that happened on November 29 in southeast Tennessee.


See also

*
Droughts in California The historical and ongoing droughts in California result from various complex meteorological phenomena, some of which are not fully understood by scientists. Drought is generally defined as “a deficiency of precipitation over an extended peri ...
*
List of wildfires This is a list of notable wildfires. Asia China *1987 – The Black Dragon Fire started in China and burnt a total of of forest along the Amur river, with destroyed on the Chinese side. Hong Kong (Special Administrative Region of Chin ...


References

{{2016 wildfires 2016 in Georgia (U.S. state) 2016 in North Carolina 2016 in South Carolina 2016 in Tennessee 2016 wildfires in the United States Fires in Georgia (U.S. state) Natural disasters in Georgia (U.S. state) Fires in North Carolina Natural disasters in North Carolina Fires in South Carolina Natural disasters in South Carolina Fires in Tennessee Natural disasters in Tennessee