Mountain tough and smoky strong, it's a spirit that lives on in Gatlinburg. Hello, I'm Charles Denny. This is AgCast, brought to you by the University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture. The devastating wildfires that burned Gatlinburg and Sevier County in late November destroyed homes, businesses, thousands of acres of forest, and claimed 14 lives.
We knew to be prepared for something like this, but fire came from the bottom and the top, so there's no way that, looking back now, that we couldn't have stayed and tried to defend our home. Melissa Dubb and her family did manage to escape the flames, but the mountaintop cabin they've rented for eight years is now gone. You only had a matter of minutes to get out of here. Yes.
I just had no idea that our house would burn. I mean, even when we saw the fire on our street, I still had hope and the belief that our house would still be there. 4-H agent Glenn Turner is leading an effort to help people like Melissa and some 60 Sevier County 4-Hers and their families who've lost their homes. The slogan that's going around is mountain tough and people here are strong, and we've seen that through the media and we've seen that through the response of people, and certainly you see that through a caring community.
Turner coordinated a gift card collection with the Tennessee 4-H Foundation, donations coming in from 16 different states and totaling more than $60,000. Also, the staff at the UT Extension office put together care bags for students and teachers at Sevier County schools. We're just trying to make an initial contact with those kids that have been affected and put some things in their hand to say your 4-H family is thinking about you. Turner says this tragedy was especially tough for Tennessee 4-H.
Of the 14 people who died in the blaze, two of the victims were young sisters. Both girls were 4-Hers and both gave speeches at 4-H club meetings just days before the fire. Yes, their 4-H meetings at Phi Phi School, they were actually presenting their speeches about 10 days prior to the fire taking place. So that was, you know, just brings it home.
It really brings it home that they were involved in that group and presenting their 4-H speeches and they lost their lives. Meantime, UT Extension is helping in other ways. At the Pigeon Forge Library, consumer experts help residents who lost valuable documents in the fire, assisting them in finding and filling out the necessary forms. Dr.
Dina Wise was on hand to guide people through the process and listen to their concerns. Right, and so it's a very initial part, actually, of putting your life back together because birth certificates or driver's license or photo IDs are the basic to everything we do, transactions we make. So what we try to do is just expedite all that by trying to get as many forms as we could together, together with addresses and instructions for applying, that kind of thing. Joe Wagner came in.
He lost his home, which included the military vets' service records. Actually, I lost all of my documents except my birth certificate and a couple that were in a lockbox. And so my service records and everything else were all gone. But Mr.
Wagner says that's fine. He survived. If we had done what some people might have thought about, and that is I need to get my good stuff together, my important papers together, we might not have gotten out. It has to be bottom line.
And all that's replaceable. My first concern was my wife and my dog. And we got out, and we're in fine shape. Mr.
Wagner and Melissa Dove both say how grateful they are for the support and help from others. Oh, it's been so inspiring and humbling. I mean, in working for the Boys and Girls Club of the Smoky Mountains, I'm used to being one that helps others. I'm not used to being one that receiving it, and it's just blown me away how people from not only the county but the state and across the United States have reached out to help us.
Papers, businesses, and homes are all replaceable. The recovery will take time and work. But a spirit survives here, one boosted by giving, kindness, and toughness. Thanks for listening.
I'm Charles Denny. For more real-life solutions provided by the UT Institute of Agriculture, go to our website at ag.tennessee.edu. For more real-life solutions, visit our website at ag.tennesse.edu.