Posted on 11/28/2016 9:00:50 PM PST by ReformedBeckite
GATLINBURG, TN (WSMV) -
One of Tennessee’s most popular tourist destinations is being evacuated due to wildfires. Downtown Gatlinburg and numerous area neighborhoods, including the southern part of Pigeon Forge, are under a mandatory evacuation.
The Tennessee Emergency Management Agency has declared a level three state of emergency for the affected areas. TEMA says 30 structures are currently on fire in Gatlinburg, including a 16-story hotel.
The Tennessee National Guard will be deployed to Sevier County to assist with clearing and removing debris.
Officials said there are no reports of fatalities at this time. At least one person suffered a burn injury and minor injuries were reported in an accident involving a fire truck.
TEMA is asking Sevier County residents to stay off mobile devices unless it is an emergency.
The National Weather Service says nobody is being allowed into the city at this time.School buses are being used for emergency transport.
Gatlinburg Fire Chief Greg Miller is asking the public for prayers and asking everyone to stay off the highways so emergency vehicles have full access.
Fire officials decided to impose the evacuation around 6 p.m. Shelters have been set up in multiple locations.
Sevier County Schools will be closed on Tuesday due to the fires.
A fire in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park has grown to about 500 acres because of strong winds. It began to spread rapidly due to strong winds on Monday.
The fire has been burning since last Wednesday and has forced several roads and trails in the parks to close.
Heavy winds are still expected in Sevier County until Tuesday morning, but rainfall is moving into the area.
It looks like most of the main drag was saved. It was the surrounding homes that took more of the brunt and other nearby businesses.
That post needs to be removed.
Gatlinburg is not gone and the outlying areas are affected.
Thanks for the Rebel Corner info. I remembered it burning but wasn’t real sure of the time frame. The best thing they could do today is close the park itself until at least Thursday.
Oh by the way I forgot to mention that I had no idea they had fires out here! I thought we were leaving those when we left California.
I always worry about all the forest critters :-(
It is closed. 441 Cherokee to Gatlinburg. 321 to Cosby and 73 to Metcalf.
Staging areas in Pigeon Forge.
Fire of that magnitude here is a rarity. I don’t recall anything like it in my five decades on this earth. Everybody in the foothills and mountains across the south have been holding their breath, scattered fires everywhere. It could have been us here in NC just as easily. The rain has come, the wind has died down. Hopefully, we’ve seen the last of this. It’s just sad, such a beloved place, so many people with so many memories, the vacation homes and businesses gone. They’ll rebuild and come back stronger than before, I don’t doubt that. But, the natural beauty has been heavily damaged. It will take decades to return to it’s former glory.
3/4 of the tweet you posted is pantload.
So much money has moved into Asheville that the Arts scene has been compromised. Only those who can afford high dollar rents can make it.
http://wate.com/2016/11/29/video-aerial-video-of-gatlinburg-fire-damage/
Just horrible devastation! So sad!!
Are you somewhere near the Tri-Cities area? I just love traveling over to North Carolina from here. It is so ragged and mountainous compared to the hills we have here. Just drop dead gorgeous. By the way I enjoyed your homepage. Now that I’ve moved here I need to learn A lot of the history.
Many of the Regulators ended up fleeing into the backcountry of North Carolina after their uprising detailed on my homepage. The Overmountain Men who were instrumental in defeating Ferguson and the British at King’s Mountain came from that area and very likely were former Regulators with a grudge, judging by the vitriol directed at them by Ferguson, who threatened by letter to come over the mountains and burn them out. That backcountry became Tennessee in 1796, after a brief period of being The Free State Of Franklin. Look up John Sevier, namesake of Sevierville and Sevier County.
I’m a little east of there, about five counties away along the VA border. I can see the Blue Ridge from here in winter. It’s a good hour’s drive to the front range of them, though.
So this part of Tennessee was part of North Carolina in the beginning?
We have a fort here, Sycamore Shoals, where they do reenactments. One of them is the overmountain men when they went to and came back from fighting the British. There was also a play about it. The play made it sound like that they originated from here!
They did come from there. It’s just that it was North Carolina at the time. The Overmountain Men were the genesis of the TN state nickname, The Volunteer State. All volunteer army, marched over the mountains to King’s Mountain (near Charlotte), and really laid a whuppin’ on the British.
Wow, you know your history!
I’d love to get involved with the reenactments here. The period clothing is interesting-they even spend the weekends living like they did back then. As soon as the remodeling is done and the business is on its feet...
It was a fascinating episode in US history. The State of North Carolina maintains a website, LearnNC, with a good historical overview:
http://www.learnnc.org/lp/editions/nchist-revolution/4272
i’ll check it out. thanks!
it rained all night here in the tri-cities. hopefully Gatlinburg got a lot of it.
http://dollywoodfoundation.org/
Here is a link to help out those affected by the horrible wildfires in the Smoky Mountains. There have been over 14,000 people evacuated,at least seven dead,several missing and hundreds of homes and businesses have been totally destroyed. The impact on that area will be tremendous for s long time.
Here is a link with a number of very sad after and before pictures as well as other fire links.
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