Home to the Hancock family for generations, the hills and hollows along Silvermine Road are an ingrained identity for siblings Teresa Hancock, Christy Birchfield and Garry Hancock. But this year is the first in their decades of living that smoke has obscured the sky, ash has rained from the air, and flickers of flame have threatened the home that’s served as setting for memories across the seasons of life.
“That whole end of the creek is family land, has been for years,” said Birchfield, 44. “This is kind of the family legacy, and just the thought of losing all of that just scares us to death.”
It’s a possibility that she never thought she’d have to face, but as the Tellico Fire ballooned and burned closer — it would eventually merge with the Ferebee Fire — she and her siblings started to get worried. The three live together in their childhood home.
“Monday night (Nov. 7) I just kind of had a bad feeling, so we packed some pictures and things like that in the car, just in case,” Birchfield said. “Tuesday morning we got up, walked outside. The smoke was really thick and there was a lot of ash falling. About the time that we started seeing one of the Forest Service trucks went up with a bulldozer on the back — we knew that was not a good sign.”
The siblings went back inside, added clothes to the stash of pre-packed items crammed into the Mercury Grand Marquis. They drove up the road to where the bulldozer was sitting — the dozer operator pointed to the mountainside right behind them. The fire was right there, he said.
“We freaked out a little bit and we decided that we would just kind of go for a drive, get away from the smoke for a little bit and see what the day held,” Birchfield said.
They drove around, got some lunch, tried to think about something other than the fire. But whatever illusion they had managed to construct disappeared when they arrived home to discover their home surrounded by firemen. The power was out, they were told, and crews were settling in to build fire lines right behind the house, hoping to save it from the fire’s impending arrival. They suggested that the family find somewhere else to sleep.
So the siblings made a final pass at packing before pulling out the driveway, wondering if they were seeing their home for the last time. It was a lot to take in.
“It’s hard to wrap your mind around never seeing your house again,” said Teresa Hancock, 58.
“It’s not something you can prepare for,” Birchfield added. “You just don’t know. You grab up your important papers and the pictures that mean so much and a few little items here and there, and you just have to make the choice and tear yourself away from the rest.”
They’d done most of their packing the night before, gathering up those items deemed irreplaceable enough to earn a place in the car. The rest would have to stay behind.
“We packed things like pictures we couldn’t replace — really old pictures like of our parents and grandparents and things like that,” Birchfield said. “Dad’s memorial flag that was on his coffin, because we sure didn’t want to lose that. Quilts that family members who aren’t with us anymore had made. Things that were really special. But there were still a lot of special things that are there.”
There was no time to stay and save the rest. The siblings headed for town, where Birchfield works the front desk of the Fryemont Inn. She can’t say enough nice things about her boss and her work family for helping however they could — they even gave her a place to stay. But it wasn’t the same was being home.
“This community is awesome when it comes to stuff like this,” Birchfield said. “They just step in and step up. But it’s just — am I gonna have a home to go to, and when am I gonna get to go to that home?”
They drove by almost daily to check on the house, grateful each time to find that nothing had been damaged. And on Nov. 14, just shy of one week since the evacuation began, they got word that the power was back on and they could go home. Firefighters worked round the clock to ensure no houses were lost, and for that the siblings are grateful.
But now the U.S. Forest Service has announced that it’s investigating the fires for suspected arson, and that news elicited a strong emotional reaction from Birchfield and Hancock — and from the community at large.
“There was a lot of anger. A lot of anger and a lot of frustration. How could somebody do that?” Birchfield said. “They’re putting so many lives at risk and so many homes at risk — and not just the homeowner but the firefighters. Those guys are worn out. You can tell just by looking at them.”
“There are lines in their faces where you can tell they’re so tired,” Hancock added, “but they’re still there and they’re still working.”
Throughout the evacuation period, Birchfield and her siblings struggled to do the same — to carry on with business as usual however possible, despite the fact that they were living out of a hotel room and wondering all the time if they would still have a home when it was all over.
They’ve felt “like refugees,” Birchfield said. The once-comforting sound of a fire crackling now brings fear rather than peace. Garry Hancock, an avid camper, has questioned whether he even wants to have a campfire again, Birchfield said. And the fireplace in the hallway of the Fryemont Inn ignites Birchfield’s nerves every time the fire crackles.
“When I finally got to go back to work, every time that fireplace popped I was jumping and looking,” she said. “It just totally changes everything. I used to love to see a fireplace burning.”
Evacuation status
Evacuations have been lifted in Swain and Macon counties, though access to those areas affected by the evacuations is limited to residents only. Evacuations in Clay County have been lifted completely, with no areas under limited access.
Swain County: Only residents may travel Big Dog, Gassaway, Licklog, Long Branch, Luther Bingham, Mason, Morgan, Northern Partridge, Silver Mine, East Silver Ridge, Wesser Creek and Wilkes roads.
Macon County: Only residents may travel Deweese and Partridge Creek roads.