Two juveniles charged for starting Sevier Co. wildfires

[xsubsailor]

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WVLT) -- Officials said two juveniles are responsible for the devastating Sevier County wildfires.

At a 3 p.m. news conference Wednesday, authorities told media outlets that two juveniles have been charged with aggravated arson for their roles in allegedly starting wildfires.

The two minors were taken into custody Wednesday morning after a petition was filed in juvenile court charging them with aggravated arson. They are currently being held at the Sevier County Juvenile Detention Center.

The District Attorney said the juveniles are not from Sevier County, but are residents of Tennessee.

Officials say, "everything is on the table," and said the two juveniles could be facing more charges or could be tried as adults.

 

http://www.local8now.com/content/news/Officials-Two-juveniles-charged-for-starting-Sevier-Co-wildfires-405283765.html

[Ronald_55]

8 minutes ago, xsubsailor said:

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WVLT) -- Officials said two juveniles are responsible for the devastating Sevier County wildfires.

At a 3 p.m. news conference Wednesday, authorities told media outlets that two juveniles have been charged with aggravated arson for their roles in allegedly starting wildfires.

The two minors were taken into custody Wednesday morning after a petition was filed in juvenile court charging them with aggravated arson. They are currently being held at the Sevier County Juvenile Detention Center.

The District Attorney said the juveniles are not from Sevier County, but are residents of Tennessee.

Officials say, "everything is on the table," and said the two juveniles could be facing more charges or could be tried as adults.

 

http://www.local8now.com/content/news/Officials-Two-juveniles-charged-for-starting-Sevier-Co-wildfires-405283765.html

Saw this pop up on the news too. Those kids are going under the jail.

[TNWNGR]

I'm not the least bit surprised it was vandalism or that juvenile offenders are being charged in relationship to the incident. Having dealt with more juvenile offenders in the past then I ever wanted to I'm not to optimistic of much more then them being tried as adults and being exposed to other criminal offenders. But it's about the only means of dealing with them we have.

[mikegideon]

Here's hoping that they both discover prison love at a tender young age. 

[runco]

As a father of 4 sons, two on the cusp of being teenagers, I cannot imagine what the family is going through, the parents, the kids and etc.  On the other hand, the pain, the loss, that the innocent people of Gatlinburg have went through and the loss for ever.  Sad and tough situation all around. 

[DaveTN]

Not much info in that story. I wonder how old there are; they could have released that. But they must believe they set them intentionally with those charges.

14 people dead and no telling how many going through painful burn recovery. Terrible.

[R_Bert]

17 minutes ago, DaveTN said:

Not much info in that story. I wonder how old there are; they could have released that. But they must believe they set them intentionally with those charges.

14 people dead and no telling how many going through painful burn recovery. Terrible.

I listened to the press conference, and that was asked.  The officials cited law, and declined to answer.

[R_Bert]

17 minutes ago, DaveTN said:

Not much info in that story. I wonder how old there are; they could have released that. But they must believe they set them intentionally with those charges.

14 people dead and no telling how many going through painful burn recovery. Terrible.

I listened to the press conference, and that was asked.  The officials cited law, and declined to answer.

[bubbiesdad]

2 hours ago, mikegideon said:

Here's hoping that they both discover prison love at a tender young age. 

Life in prison, with Ben Dover for a cellmate.

[mikegideon]

5 minutes ago, bubbiesdad said:

Life in prison, with Ben Dover for a cellmate.

Long Dong Dover

[leroy]

Considering what has happened in Gatlinburg and the surrounding territories, and the lost of life and property; these folks are in "big trouble"; no matter the ages... This one will be interestin to watch... I could easily let my mind wander a bit and come to the conclusion that someone might have paid these guys to do this... There are several agencies investigating this; among them, the feds... I could see these guys and whoever they might roll over on (...if there is anyone to roll over on...) being tried in both the state and federal courts.... Folks could also begin to believe that this could be an act of "domestic terrorism"... Check this out... http://wildfiretoday.com/2016/12/05/analyzing-the-fire-that-burned-into-gatlinburg/

watchin leroy....

[2.ooohhh]

I find it odd that non of the news coverage is mentioning the aircraft brought in to fight the blaze other than the helicopters. We parked between a pair of awesome looking tankers at the Tri-cities FBO on the first. The pilots indicated they were on contract with the Forest Service and had flown in from Montana. 

BAe 146 by Erik, on Flickr

[peejman]

They don't need to go to prison, they need to pick up a shovel and wheel barrow. Then when they're done with that, they need pick up a hammer and nails. Then when they're done with that, they need to pick up a paint brush.  Depending on how all that goes, maybe we'll see about prison.

Given the situation, I'd bet the parents weren't particularly involved before so getting them involved now seems a bit late. 

[Raoul]

Shouldn't there be a murder or manslaughter charge too?

[monkeylizard]

There might be. That's the hammer yet to fall in the phrase "everything is on the table".

 

Because it started in a National PArk, the Fed has jurisdiction, but the US District Attorney has decided to allows Sevier Co. to prosecute this one.

[mhmd]

going to have to disagree with both mikeG and bubbiesdad on this one. What happened is terrible but to suggest they need "prison love" is over the line. IMO. 

Mark

[btq96r]

15 minutes ago, peejman said:

They don't need to go to prison, they need to pick up a shovel and wheel barrow. Then when they're done with that, they need pick up a hammer and nails. Then when they're done with that, they need to pick up a paint brush.  Depending on how all that goes, maybe we'll see about prison.

Given the situation, I'd bet the parents weren't particularly involved before so getting them involved now seems a bit late. 

That would be quite fitting considering the damage caused.  Unless they're beyond rehabilitation, long prison terms will just make them lifetime criminals.  I can't see any reason to try them as adults...I've not a fan of that practice save a case by case basis when per-meditated murder/attempted murder is involved.

I'm interested to learn if these two were out to bring as much mayhem as possible, or two dumb kids who let a fire get out of control with the weather causing the rest.  Not excusing anything, but I find it hard to believe that to under 18 teens could have intended the devastation caused.

[Pain103]

 They will add murder charges later once they get a final body count. Any death from an arson is tried as murder. 

[Dirtshooter]

I am usually one of the first to say hang em high or put in prison and throw the key away. The fire in the Gatlinburg area is devastating and there will be no winners regardless what the court sees is a correct punishment. Their punishment won't bring back the lives that were lost nor the historical buildings destroyed. On another note as has been said, what if this was domestic terrorism? If the country was fighting forest fires and trying to save lives and homes, our attention wouldn't be on fighting terrorists. This is hard to think about, but what if???

Edited December 8, 2016 by Dirtshooter

[DaveTN]

49 minutes ago, Raoul said:

Shouldn't there be a murder or manslaughter charge too?

Depending on the age and the level of intent or reckless that can be proven; there probably will be. But since they have charges to hold them on and keep them away from each other; there is no rush to do so until the investigation is complete.

As I said above; there isn’t much in that story. This could be anything from 8 year olds playing with matches, to 16 year olds intentionally setting a fire. As soon as the local gossip gets going we will know their ages and probably their criminal records; if they have any.

[mikegideon]

2 hours ago, DaveTN said:

Depending on the age and the level of intent or reckless that can be proven; there probably will be. But since they have charges to hold them on and keep them away from each other; there is no rush to do so until the investigation is complete.

As I said above; there isn’t much in that story. This could be anything from 8 year olds playing with matches, to 16 year olds intentionally setting a fire. As soon as the local gossip gets going we will know their ages and probably their criminal records; if they have any.

"Aggravated". They're not 8 year olds. Seems like there is lots of intent implied in the charge. But, I guess I was too hard on them. They need some time out. 

[chances R]

The fire was started before Thanksgiving so I doubt anyone had the foresight to intentionally cause what followed.  Not sure it follows the true definition of arson, but regardless the final result was beyond imagination and nothing can fully describe the initial impact and what is to follow for years.  No punishment of the offenders is really going to make a difference.  One can only hope that by some miracle something positive can come out of their lives that can somehow touch others in a positive fashion.  I can't see it......but hopefully that will happen.  Would be a terrible position as a family to be in as a dumb mistake by teenagers.  If there is a record of juvenile offenses, then a different story.

[Lumber_Jack]

5 hours ago, chances R said:

The fire was started before Thanksgiving so I doubt anyone had the foresight to intentionally cause what followed.  Not sure it follows the true definition of arson, but regardless the final result was beyond imagination and nothing can fully describe the initial impact and what is to follow for years.  No punishment of the offenders is really going to make a difference.  One can only hope that by some miracle something positive can come out of their lives that can somehow touch others in a positive fashion.  I can't see it......but hopefully that will happen.  Would be a terrible position as a family to be in as a dumb mistake by teenagers.  If there is a record of juvenile offenses, then a different story.

 

Regardless of the outcome, setting fire intentionally is Arson, even if all it does is burn woods.  Even if they didn't intend to kill people, the result still has implications.  Now if they set the fire accidentally in violation of the Governers burn ban, the legal implications could be totally different.  I think if they move the trial to Adult Court it will answer a lot of speculations on intent vs accident

 

[Lumber_Jack]

19 hours ago, 2.ooohhh said:

I find it odd that non of the news coverage is mentioning the aircraft brought in to fight the blaze other than the helicopters. We parked between a pair of awesome looking tankers at the Tri-cities FBO on the first. The pilots indicated they were on contract with the Forest Service and had flown in from Montana. 

BAe 146 by Erik, on Flickr

 

This one was in the region too, its call a Super Scooper.  Came out of Montana.  It worked mostly in North Carolina.  There is a video on facebook of it scooping out of Fontana Lake.  Basically lands on the water scoops up 1600 gallons in 12 seconds and then takes back off.  

[2.ooohhh]

Awesome! The whole time I was waiting for my ride I was watching them refill the tanks on the other BAe 146. The pilots were telling me that it carried 3000 gallons of fire retardant/water per run. All I know it that it takes a huge set a brass balls to fly a 100,000 pound jet at low altitudes to drop that payload on the hillsides. Just imagining trying to get sub 2000ft to the ground while suddenly dropping 1/4 the gross weight from the fuselage gives me chills, much less attempting to do it right on the edge of a raging forest fire.