On November 28, 2016, wildfires ravaged the Gatlinburg, TN area killing 14, injuring 191 and damaging or destroying more than 2,400 homes and businesses. For nearly two weeks, local, State, and Federal agencies worked to quell the fires. This event of historical proportions has many lessons to be learned that encompass a number of areas including emergency notifications, protective action communications, plans and procedures, and especially risk and crisis communications as it pertains to public affairs. The Public Affairs Science and Technology (PAST) Fusion is conducting a study to add to the body of existing knowledge in risk and crisis communication principles to provide the opportunity for greater information sharing and identification of risk and crisis communications best practices to instruct lessons learned from the 2016 Gatlinburg wildfires. The purpose of the study is to gain insight about the notification process during the Gatlinburg Wildfires with researchers from Argonne National Laboratory’s Public Affairs Science and Technology (PAST) Fusion interviewing affected Gatlinburg stakeholders such as business owners, residents and tourists, as well as local, state, and Federal officials to gain insight about the notification process during the Gatlinburg Wildfires.
