Posted on 11/29/2016 3:23:29 AM PST by C19fan
Terrified guests are trapped inside a burning Hilton hotel as a huge wildfire engulfs the Tennessee resort towns of Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge. Dollywood theme park has been evacuated as thousands of tourists and residents fled the Great Smoky Mountains amidst reports of cars bursting into flames, dozens of homes being engulfed by fire, and the sky turning brown with smoke and flames.
Motorists clogged the roads after the Gatlinburg Fire Department ordered the mandatory evacuation of the town at just after 6pm on Monday, as strong wind conditions fanned the flames making the fire increasingly unpredictable and dangerous.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
A few of the fires are from downed power lines due to the high winds.
You are right...perhaps its a plan for MORE.
Good thoughts you have.
It rained last night and a bit this morning. I lived in Alaska, so I guess I was a lil apethetic at first. Several coworkers live close to a couple of fires. The smoke is wreaking havoc on the locals.. we live in an are less affected, but I work in in maryviille, where the smoke settled for a few days. The city folk are claiming near death experiences constantly. Glad to hear the Hilton is safe, just can’t see spending the holiday in the great smoke filled mountains. To me, it’s just mountain life.
That depends on your understanding of God's sovereignty.
Even though it will never be admited I think these huge fires are set by radical muslims
“Are any US news sources covering this?”.....
I haven’t seen or heard a word that they are. Guess the fire had nothing to do with the outcome of the presidential elections and was not newsworthy enough. (sarc)
I live next to the Jefferson National Forest in the Appalachian hills. Fire, like logging, is just part of life. If you don’t harvest the timber, the fires will do it for you.
Egad! It’s admittedly a tourist trap, but my family has had great vacations there - especially a couple stays at a single “cabin” on the NC side, owned by an elderly couple.
Looks like rain is still falling, but may be about over. Precip totals up to 1” — hope the heavier rain fell where most needed...
Prayers for all!
Bugs and disease have been killing the trees for many years. When we visited in 2010 you could see the damage.
https://www.nps.gov/grsm/learn/nature/dff109-pest.htm
When I was about 12, we went to Gatlinburg for vacation. At that time, Pigeon Forge was just a cross street. I remember there was an old horse drawn wagon on one corner. That was the extent of the town. Flash forward about 20 years. We drove through there and I was amazed at the growth. Ripley’s Believe it or Not was the tamest of the family attractions. Helicopters, mini-golf and hillbilly everything.
Americana at its best. My favorite place is a few miles up the road. The Smoky Mountain Knife Works, a huge knife emporium.
I hope the fire is extinguished soon. We’ve done some awesome hiking there. I’ve hiked about 100 miles in the Smokies with lots of great stories.
I do not think any of the hotel burned at all, including the porte cochre.
According to the two eyewitnesses WATE interviewed in the hotel around 1:00 AM, the closest the fires came were on the OTHER side of the parking lot from the hotel itself. By the time of the interview they said the fires had retreated a bit but were still waiting for the road out to be cleared.
http://wate.com/2016/11/28/video-chef-at-gatlinburg-park-vista-hotel-live-on-facebook-from-fire/
Closing in on Dollywood. My sis and her husband who has MD, and their daughter all lost their jobs when Westgate a resort burned down. They live up in the mountain’s surrounding the area, their house is not in danger. He’s on disability, she will have to apply for Unemployment, finding work when you are nearing 60 is not going to be easy. Especially with so many losing their jobs because of this fire.
Please Lord send enough rain to put out the fires.
We love SMKW! They also have a broadcast from there, or used to.
Crap. Was there a few months ago.
We live in Maryland and went to visit friends in Alabama over Thanksgiving a couple years ago. We timed the trip to spend the night in Pigeon Forge just so my and my two boys could go to SMKW for Black Friday.
It was worth it.
The American Party established its headquarters in Pigeon Forge in 1973. Three years later, Anderson ran for president as its candidate but lost to Jimmy Carter.
If they are catching on to that tactic, California had better brace itself when the Santa Ana winds start blowing in the fall.
don’t you feel comforted as 0bama continues to bring in more muslim terrorist ‘refugees’ on top of the millions he’s already brought in?
yup... the next 4-8 years are going to be exciting
“Even with the rain that continued to fall, buildings remained engulfed in flames, and the agency said there was “little hope” that the rainfall would bring relief anytime soon.”
http://www.knoxnews.com/story/news/2016/11/29/30-gatlinburg-structures-fire-tema/94584554/
posted 25 minutes ago
I luv that place. I know next to nothing about knives but I always buy a cheap utility knife as a souvenier.
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