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More recently, fires devastated Gatlinburg, Tenn., in 2016, the towns of Superior and Louisville in Colorado in 2021 and Lahaina, Hawaii, two years ago.

The study points to examples like the 2016 Gatlinburg fire in Tennessee, which, although less than a tenth of the size of the Camp Fire, destroyed nearly 2,500 structures and killed 14 people.

They might be burning dead leaves in their backyard, and it gets out of hand—or, in the case of the Gatlinburg fire, two teenage boys playing with matches set the land ablaze.

Jurors handed down the verdict late last week in the case against Father Antony Punnackal, who was suspended from his role as pastor of St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Gatlinburg after being indicted in January 2022 on two counts of sexual battery.

The flames tore through the nearby tourist town of Gatlinburg, killing 14 people, and caused an estimated $2 billion in losses, including about 2,500 buildings that were damaged or destroyed.