Maggie fire could easily have spread

April 05--It wasn't long after Maggie Valley Police Chief Russ Gilliland spotted thick, black smoke that a Maggie Valley Home was fully engulfed, flames licking up to the treetops.

Gilliland was luckily leaving the town hall when he spotted thick, black smoke.

"I saw that smoke and thought, 'this isn't the normal, white smoke. Something might be wrong,'" Gilliland said.

Gilliland, called in the fire, which was not far off Soco Road near the post office, at about 2:45 Wednesday afternoon. Within about a half-hour the fire was out, but not before the home was totally destroyed.

Marianne Fisher Smith and Jeff Smith own the property, as well as three other nearby homes and the Jonathan Creek Inn and Villas. He said that the home, which was built in 1999, is used as a vacation rental, and luckily, guests had checked out that very morning.

"If it happened in the middle of the night and people were sleeping, with how fast that fire burned the home, it could have been bad," Jeff Smith said.

Another house the Smiths own is right next to the one that burned. He said that the fire burned so hot and close, especially with the wind blowing in the direction that it was, to that house that there were scorch marks.

The Smiths thanked the first responders for getting there quick enough to ensure minimal damage to the surrounding properties.

"I don't know how to thank everybody that was out there," he said. "Maybe five minutes later and our other house probably would have gone. They did a super job."

Jeff Smith said that as of now, there is no indication what started the fire.

"We've checked with everybody that was in there that day," he said. "There was no indication of any issues they were having."

Although losing a property is a difficult thing to have to experience, he said he ultimately feels thankful.

"We'll rebuild it. That's why we have insurance," he said. "We're just thankful as can be that no one was in there and no one got hurt."

Quick response

The fire warranted a response from at least Maggie Valley, Jonathan Creek, Clyde, Waynesville, Junaluska, Crabtree-Iron Duff, and even the Cherokee Fire Department.

Although neighbors didn't want their names published, a couple offered first-hand accounts of what they saw.

"I saw a column of the smoke and figured somebody must be burning something, then I looked and saw what it was," one woman recalled. "It's just scary."

"I happened to look out the window, and I thought somebody was burning leaves at first," another man said. "But then I saw what was happening. By the time I called 911, they said other people had already called it in, too."

Although none of the firefighters were ready to go on the record, it was mentioned that one firefighter rushed right up to the flames to douse a propane tank, preventing it from going off.

In addition, the quick response from the firefighters may have saved two homes and a truck that were all very close to the burning building.

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