Mike Williams has experienced many things in his three decades as a firefighter, but this week in Gatlinburg was unique.
“I’ve never seen that many homes burned in my life,” said the East Ridge Fire Chief, Friday, after returning from a three-day stint in the fire-ravaged resort city in the Smoky Mountains. “In 30 years, I’ve never seen that kind of fire devastation.”
On Monday, a small wildfire burning in the Chimney Tops area of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park was fanned by gale-force winds into a firestorm which quickly spread and engulfed nearby ridges and its resort homes and condos. In a matter of hours the wind carried embers into the business district of Gatlinburg, igniting motels and businesses. Authorities ordered an evacuation and a state-wide call went out to firefighters for help.
The East Ridge Fire Department was one of many agencies in the region who answered that call. Chief Williams and a crew of four firefighters _ Chris Peters, James Burkhart, Randy Albright and Brandon Clark _ took Squad 1 north to join in the effort in battling the inferno and help save lives and property.
East Ridge News Online sat down with Chief Williams on Friday and he spoke of his experiences in battling what authorities are calling the worst wildfire disaster in Tennessee in a century.
Photo courtesy of Mike Williams
Williams said he and his men staged at Gatlinburg Pittman High School, a huge complex that could accommodate all the firefighters that could be spared from Nashville down to the Chattanooga area and north to Bristol.
Williams said he was the leader of what he called Division I, a contingent of firefighters manning seven tankers, five engines, three ladder companies and a brush truck. Williams’ crew was sent to the downtown district, about a 10-square mile area from the Welcome Center and to the right side of the road.
Williams estimated there were 250 residents in the district “most of which were gone.”
He said the team went out and did reconnaissance, located a five-story building with heavy fire on the third floor and began battling the blaze.
Williams said there was no water service on the mountains and the firefighters had to rely on tanker trucks bringing in their own water to fight the blazes.
He said the coordination between fire crews was well-organized and relatively efficient. “So many fire departments worked together,” he said. “It was nice to be on the same page.”
Williams said that “emotionally and mentally” the fire crews were exhausted. Command continued to replenish the crews with more rested firefighters.
Williams said the atmosphere in and around Gatlinburg was “hard to explain.” He had seen the damage and worked in Ringgold which was ravaged by a tornado several years ago.
“This was the most destruction I’ve ever seen on an incident,” he said. “You’ve got burned out buildings and burned out cars and you know someone could be in them.
“It’s not a good feeling,” Williams said.
One image that stuck in Williams’ mind was going into restaurants in Gatlinburg and seeing food and drink just left on the table.
“People were fleeing,” he said. “They got up and were gone.”
Contrary to chaotic earlier reports, Williams said the Parkway itself is intact and that Gatlinburg was in “good shape” on the strip. However, off Hwy. 321 back toward Gatlinburg Pittman there was “a lot of devastation.”
Williams said that about 150 members of the Tennessee National Guard were called in to the scene. He said they were going door-to-door, searching for injured or dead.
ERFD sent a second crew up on Thursday and those men returned to East Ridge on Saturday.
The current death toll in the area is 13, according to various media reports. More than 1,000 structures were damaged or destroyed.
