Today, a surprise developed in the case against two teenagers charged with setting last year’s wildfires in Sevier County. The charges were dropped. WUOT’s Brandon Hollingsworth has this update.
What’s the background?
In December, two teenagers from Anderson County were charged with setting the fire that became known as Chimney Tops II. That fire spread, and was blamed for 14 deaths in and around Gatlinburg, plus close to 200 injuries and the burning of more than 2,000 buildings. The two teenagers were seen playing with matches that started a small fire along a trail in the park, so the supposition has been that their actions led to the massive fires that burned for days afterward.
What changed today?
Around noon today, District Attorney General Jimmy Dunn announced the charges against the two boys were dropped. Dunn said the state’s official investigation could not prove the two boys started the wildfires.
A statement from Dunn's office said multiple wildfires were burning at once, and unusually high winds spread the flames rapidly. That, Dunn said, made it impossible to prove the two teens were criminally responsible for the fires that burned more than 26 square miles within and outside Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
Attorney Greg Isaacs, who represented one of the two boys, said a separate probe his office carried out came to the same conclusion.
What does that mean?
Both Jimmy Dunn and Greg Isaacs say it’s the end of the line for any state prosecution, in part because no conclusive line could be drawn connecting the boys to the fires - but also because of a 1997 agreement between the state of Tennessee and the Department of the Interior that says any crime committed within the boundaries of Great Smoky Mountains National Park is automatically under federal jurisdiction. That would mean that, should further charges be filed, they would come from the U.S. Attorney’s office and not state authorities.
Will federal charges be filed?
We don’t know. That’s for the U.S. Attorney’s office to decide. No such plans have been announced.
Earlier this week, a judge in Sevier County lifted a gag order on virtually all the documents related to the investigation into the fire. Any connection between that announcement and today’s decision?
There’s no connection that we know of. When asked in a press conference this afternoon, Isaacs declined to comment. He did say, presumably in reference to the lifting of the gag order, that more information would likely be released in the coming weeks.