Fire in Big Creek area

“I saw on the news last night where 40 acres was burning in the Big Creek area. Does anyone if it is under control or the status etc. I didn't hear anything this morning.

It breaks my heart to hear of a fire there. That area means a lot to me.”

“THe GSMNP website just says that camping and horse camp areas are closed due to a wildfire.”

“A couple weeks ago when I was at Cataloochee, they were doing a controlled burn. I hadn't heard about a wildfire, but it looks like rain today, so that will help.”

“They definetly said wild fire :-( Not sure where just said BC 'area' and they showed the smoke on the side of a mountain. There were two other fires in Jackson and Haywood county as well yesterday..and if I'm correct one burned 200+ acres near Cruso. (sp?)”

“Smokies wildfire closes trails
by Lindsay Nash, lnash@CITIZEN-TIMES.com
published April 24, 2007 11:39 am

WATERVILLE – A 40-acre wildfire in the Big Creek area of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park has closed several facilities in the park near Waterville, officials said today.

The wildfire started about 2:30 p.m. Monday about 1.5 miles inside the park boundary and is located about .3 miles from the Big Creek Trailhead between Big Creek Trail and Chestnut Branch Trail.

Park officials have closed trails in the vicinity of the fire that include Big Creek Trail, Chestnut Branch Trail and Baxter Creek Trail until further notice. Also, Big Creek campground and Horse Camp are also closed.

The portion of the Appalachian Trail through this area is unaffected and remains open. Also backcountry campsites 36, 37, and 38 in the area are open.

A crew of 20 Great Smoky Mountains National Park firefighters is on the scene. Today’s objective will be to determine and establish fire lines to help contain the wildfire. A contract helicopter from Erwin, Tenn., will fly over the area this morning to provide updated information on the location and size of the fire.”

“Guess I need to read my local paper. Thanks Ewker!”

“How has the wind been up there? (hopefully Zero!)”

“Fire isn't bad sometimes

fire is bad when you have total prevention/suppression plans”

“fire is only bad as it concerns human habitation. Otherwise its a natural and necessary event.”

“I know...look at Mount Saint Helen as a perfect example.”

“"I know...look at Mount Saint Helen as a perfect example."

Of what?

I would say MSH was a ............HHHHMMMMM, not exactly sure what to call it. Maybe a ground shaking, earth moving, ash and pumice flinging conflagration.

The Smokies need a good fire, as do many areas in the SE.”

“I agree that wild fires are not always so bad.

Many natural events like volcanic eruptions or the recent windstorm here in the Southern Apps. serve an important role, namely nutrient cycling. The recent windstorm here blew over thousands of large trees pivoting their roots with great amounts of attached soil into the air. This is natural plowing or tilling of the soil and over a thousand years much of a wooded area would be so tilled.”

“edoc...i know it was a earth quake and it may not be apples to apples but life is returning there. the ash has replenished the soil and is very rich for growing.

i also agre about fire being good but i hate to see it wipe out so much of a treasured area.”

“We're only talking about 40 acres here. That's not a big fire.”

“It is when it is out of control.”

“40 acres can become 140 quickly!!! It was 40 when it started...any updates?”

“Fire near northern border of Smokies gets bigger

GATLINBURG, Tenn. (AP) -- A wildfire in the northern tip of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park has grown, and firefighters were monitoring it Wednesday.

A visitor reported a fire near Waterville, N.C., Monday, and it spread from about 40 acres to between 100 and 120 acres two days later ....

http://www.gosmokies.com/”

“I bet alot of 1acre pot farms got burned up.”

“I checked the National Incident Information Center website, but they don't report unless the fire is >500 acres.

And The NPS Morning Report doesn't do fires...”

“I was in Harford yesterday and the outfitters felt like it was going to be under control soon. We are bracing for thunderstorms this afternoon. If we get rain, all should be good. However, if we get 50 mph winds and little rain, it can get ugly quick.”

“We got a whopping 30 minute soaking this morning. First rain in 2 weeks.”

“We need it in a bad way. The Little River is down as far as I have ever seen it this time of year. If this dry weather continues, the tube companies will be pulling their hair out by June.”

“Thanks for the reports! I know we need the rain...just hoping it is in and out by the weekend!”

“Supposed to be. The squall line is pretty thin coming across the plateau.”

“latest update

'Jesse James Fire' grows in Smokies
By News Sentinel staff
April 26, 2007

GATLINBURG — Great Smoky Mountains National Park firefighters are still working to contain the 200-acre "Jesse James Fire" that began Monday in the Big Creek area.
Named after a bridge along the Big Creek Trail, the fire grew Wednesday when 10-15 mph winds and temperatures in the 80s and 90s pushed the blaze toward the park’s Big Creek entrance road and facilities.

The park burned about 40 acres along the Big Creek Trail and a small creek to protect those facilities, park spokesman Bob Miller said today. The area is near Waterville, N.C.

Rain is predicted this afternoon and tonight, and the park is hoping it will help halt the spread of the blaze.

The entire Big Creek part of the park is closed at the park gate along NC 284. The closure bars any access to the following trails and facilities: Big Creek Trail, Baxter Creek Trail, Chestnut Branch Trail, the Big Creek Picnic Area, and the Big Creek Campground and Horse Camp.

The portion of the Appalachian Trail south of the fire remains open and can be accessed at Davenport Gap. Also backcountry campsites 36, 37 and 38 in the area are open but must be reached via other routes including Swallow Fork, Low Gap, of Camel Gap Trails.

Fire managers will evaluate the fire activity on Friday and determinewhether it will be safe to reopen the facilities over the weekend.

The source of the fire has not been determined but was not related to weather, the park said.

More details as they develop online and in Friday’s News Sentinel.”

“There's another fire that's headed toward Linville Gorge. They've already closed the western trails there as a precaution.

http://www.wcnc.com/news/topstories/stories/wcnc-042607-jmn-burke_fire.e10eb1e.html”

“Well, we got a whopping 1/2 inch or rain. Just enought to get the grass wet.”

“I'm taking a group into the Big Creek area for a four-nighter starting May 4 -- we've been planning this since January and are driving down from Indianapolis. The Knoxville News Sentinel has been pretty good with the timeliness of their updates on the situation, but some of you have been even faster! (Thanks!) Keep 'em coming, as we are obviously very interested in the status of the situation and whether the NPS will get things under control and the Big Creek trail opened up by Friday the 4th. The Backcountry Office seemed to think the trail would be reopened by then, but things change daily. Thanks again!”

“you might want to be looking at a back up route just in case”

“i'm too lazy to look it up, what ever happened with this?”

“It rained from Friday evening to Sunday morning in Townsend.....man, did we ever need it”

“thanks tree”

“another fire in the Smokies

Fire in Great Smokies burning 50 acres
By News Sentinel staff
May 22, 2007


Firefighters were en route at midday to a 50-acre fire about a mile from the Abrams Creek Campground in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, the National Park Service said.
The Park Service sent 17 firefighters hiking up the steep, forested perimeter to decide where to cut fire lines.

No structures are threatened.

Burning logs are rolling down the steep terrain, which could complicate firefighting efforts.

The fire is burning where pockets of pines were killed by Southern pine beetles and in other areas where leaf litter, pine needles and brush are adding fuel.

The park has a light helicopter under contract for aerial observation but it can’t do water drops....
http://www.knoxnews.com/kns/gs_news/article/0,1406,KNS_392_5549372,00.html”

“Thanks, Ewker. I've been trying to identify exactly where this fire is located. One mile on Cooper Road Trail from Abrams Campground would place it near CS#1. But the water there and most of the crossings in each direction would be the Kingfisher Creek. From Cooper Road Trail on the Little Bottom Trail, the trail passes the old spring and climbs about 200 feet to the top of a hill. The top of that hill burnt about 5-7 years ago. It then decends back to the level of Abrams Creek, where it crosses a small creek. This is likely the "tributary named Mill Branch." However, there is another tributary close to CS#17, but this would be more than about one mile from Abrams CG. So, based upon fire boundaries stated, this will burn a lot more than 50 acres. Exactly how much depends upon the north boundary.

I checked in the brown book, "Hiking Trails Of The Smokies," but could not locate the "tributary named Mill Branch." (When that book was published, it was terrible. It still is terrible! I could give you hundreds of reasons for that. Unfortunately, it is the best thing around.)

Reviewing the Little Bottom Trail write-up, Woody Brinegar(R.I.P.) does a good job on everything except a detailed description of the trail. Thus he failed to complete one of the two objectives of the book. He did a great job on several other trail descriptions. This represents a failure of decent editing. When the first book was issued, I told them it was poorly edited or not edited at all. I, also, informed them of hundreds of errors and accused them of plagiarism, lying and perpetuating false information. I gave numerous examples of everything. They included the distance between the AT and Pecks Corner Shelter being wrong, that portion of the trail being described incorrectly as to footage and slope, and a claim of wire bunks in the shelter. They had been replaced years prior. Distances, placement of backcountry camping sites and the trail discription were completely unlike the Deep Creek write-up in the book. etc. They used to send out thank you post cards to people that sent in corrections. They sent me nothing. So, in my second letter with more corrections, I told them that the book should never have been published. Along the way with other corrective letters, I told them that it should have been categorized as "Fiction!" In my last letter I mentioned it as a "Joke Book." That was when I informed them that the Boogerman Trail was drawn backwards.

Please keep us informed, Ewker. That area is a great part of the Park.”

“Not good.”

“Bummer.”

“There must be another fire further east in the Cades Cove Area. Wet Bottoms Trail is closed due to fire!
From today's KnoxNews.com

Efforts on Tuesday were concentrated on those areas, and it appears they were successful in keeping the flames from crossing Hatcher Mountain Trail or Mill Branch Creek. But at the northwest end, officials anticipated that today could be spent digging fire lines to clear away flammable materials, Miller said.

"You're balancing the amount of labor you've got to build a line before the fire gets to it," Miller said.

Bulldozers and other pieces of heavy equipment can't be used to dig the lines, he said, which means that "fire rakes, pickaxes and shovels" will be the only types of tools available.

"You basically build a line three feet wide to get all the burnable material away," he said. "We then use a drip torch to burn between the line and the fire so there's nothing but burnt leaves."

”

“Building fire lanes is tough work, I can only imagine doing it on a steep slope. We had bulldozer and fourwheeler support. That and many forestry roads to watch the lines with trucks.
Sometimes green pine boughs are the best way to fight low fires. Fire flaps are too heavy and cumbersome. Drip torches are heavy, last a short time...and are hampered by wind and humidity.
Much luck to the firefighters...

But on the other hand, let it burn today, and in 5 years we won't have a SUPERFIRE that will kill mature hardwoods.
last edited: 5/23/07 8:40:18 PM”

“
• Little Bottoms Trail - due to fire
• Hatcher Mountain Trail - due to fire
• Abrams Falls Trail past the waterfall - due to fire
• Cooper Road Trail from Beard Cane Trail west to Cane Creek Trail - due to fire

I have not seen any more news of the Abrams Creek Fire, but the closing of part of Cooper Road Trail does not sound good. A good wind could send the flames up to the Top Of The World Estates and even over to Townsend.
.
last edited: 5/26/07 4:56:47 PM”

“Yikes.
Hopefully they can keep it contained.

C'mon rain.”

“The haze is so thick you can almost cut it with a knife. Visibility here is about as low as I have ever seen it.

NGB and I are hiking from Clingmans Dome to Tremont next weekend, so maybe it will clear off.

NS, its a long way from here to Abrams Creek Campground for a fire to burn across. Rich Mountain Road/Dry Valley/Old Tuckaleechee Rd make a pretty good fire break. From what I hear, the problem they are having is terrain with a limited access to the area. Those slopes over there are steep.”

“As I came through Walland this morning, I would estimate visibility was down to three miles. East Miller Cove (which lies between the Foothills Parkway and the Park) looked terrible. I bet the folks at Blackberry Farms are getting concerned by now. The air quality is not good.”

“I imagine that some folks are experiencing difficulties in breathing.”

“I just checked the Look Rock web cam and it looks like the fires are spreading.”

“Look Rock web cam site: http://www2.nature.nps.gov/air/webcams/parks/grsmcam/grsmcam.cfm”