Wildfire! Did These Places Survive?

The images on this particular blog post were all made on the Roaring Fork Motor Trail in The Great Smoky Mountains National Park.  I made these images one month ago and they may never be able to be made again, if they didn't survive the horrific wildfire still burning in the area.  The trail is near Gatlinburg, Tennessee, which you know if you have been following the news here in the United States, has suffered from the effects of severe drought followed by this record setting wildfire.  The entire area has been engulfed in fire.

Wildfires are natural and necessary to clear the forest floor.  Wildfires allow new, healthy and sustained growth of many different flora. The U.S. Forest Service practice of many years of immediately extinguishing all wildfires proved to be faulty as that allowed the undergrowth to flourish which caused much greater wildfires and more destruction.

I don't mind wildfires as I understand nature's necessity for them but I don't like the death and destruction that sometimes goes along with them.  In this case, currently three people have lost their lives and over 250 homes and other structures have been destroyed.  The only thing that could make it worse would be if this fire was a result of arson.  I have not heard that arson is the cause and I hope it was a natural occurrence. That doesn't help those who have lost loved ones, homes, property or jobs, but if it were man-made, that would have been inexcusable.

You can click on any of these images to enlarge them.  All were made with a Fuji X-T2 and Fuji lenses.

I don't know which of these images will be able to be made in the future.  I'm glad I was able to record their beauty and interest when I did.  The log homes, I believe, are well over 100 years old.  The truck is from the 1930s.

If you are a religious individual, I would ask you to keep the victims of this tragedy in your thoughts and prayers.

Thanks for looking. Enjoy! 

Dennis A. Mook 

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