Judge sides with resident in suit over Gatlinburg fire

A federal district judge has ruled that survivors of the deadly Chimney Tops fire that killed 14 people and damaged or destroyed more than 2,500 homes around Gatlinburg have the right to sue the National Park Service for failing to notify the community about the blaze.

Senior U.S. District Judge Thomas Phillips said this week that the Park Service plan for addressing wildfires specified that mandatory warnings to residents and local leaders were required, but those warnings didn't occur.

“None of the directives at issue contain any language about recommended, encouraged, or permissible action,” Phillips wrote. The Park Service was required by its own rules to notify park neighbors.

More than 200 property owners sued the Park Service last year, arguing rangers told the community there was “no immediate threat" from the fire, which began on Chimney Tops peaks in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park on Nov. 23, 2016.

High winds and the failure to initially fight the blaze allowed it to build and roar through Gatlinburg, causing damages estimated at $2 billion.

The U.S. Department of Justice, representing the Park Service, had argued that residents cannot legally challenge decisions of government workers.

However, Phillips suggested the basis for the claims rests not on decisions made by Park Service managers, but in their failure to follow the fire management plan, which “specifies who is to be notified” in the event of a wildfire. The plan “specifically states that park neighbors will be notified of all planned and unplanned fire management activities that have the potential to impact them,” Phillips wrote.

The mandatory warnings didn't occur, Phillips wrote.

The ruling means numerous lawsuits filed against the Park Service can move forward.