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Oct. 18 (UPI) -- A barbecue in Tennessee came to a premature end when a bear crashed the party and feasted on 10 burgers and a Diet Coke. TikTok user melmelll7197 posted a video to the site showing what happened when a bear showed up to a backyard barbecue in Gatlinburg. VIDEO AT LINK............... The bear is seen lifting the lid of the grill and feasting on the 10 burgers cooking inside. The bruin then washes down its meal by knocking over a can of Diet Coke and drinking from the resulting puddle. The user wrote the bear "ate our...

Wildlife officials are once again urging people in Sevier County to keep their distance from bears after a concerning video from Gatlinburg over the weekend. The video shot on Sept. 3 in downtown Gatlinburg shows people getting a little too close for comfort to a black bear. The Tennessee Wildlife Resource Agency says there are proper steps you should take if you find yourself in this situation. While spotting a bear in Downtown Gatlinburg is not uncommon, TWRA spokesperson Matt Cameron said some of the people in the video were dangerously close. “When they started approaching it and chasing it...

Any ideas, suggestion?!

A black bear broke into a cabin near downtown Gatlinburg, Tennessee, on Saturday and attacked a man inside. The bear broke through partially-locked French doors and went straight for the kitchen, according to CBS News. After the man found the bear in the kitchen, the bear attacked him. The man escaped the attack and called 911 from inside a locked bedroom, CBS News reported. Family members then drove him to the hospital. ... A man vacationing in Gatlinburg was injured over the weekend when a black bear entered his cabin and charged at him, the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency announced...

<p>He turned around, and looked. There, no more than 20 feet away, its feet on a tipped over trash can, was a huge black bear. The bear did not notice him immediately.</p> <p>But Greg’s dog had come out, and peaked around the corner. It growled and emitted a bark, Grrrr..ru..ruff! The bear jumped over the downed trash can, landed with a Woof!, and charged directly at Greg.</p>

A man who called residents of fire-ravaged Gatlinburg, Tenn., “Trump-suckin pond scum” has lost his job. “Funny story. I was recently in gatlinburg. Had a terrible time, I felt that the place was a cesspool of consumerism and a bastion of the worst aspects of southern culture. Turns out a wildfire just burned most of the town to the ground,” Coleman Bonner said in a post late last month. “Good riddance gatlinburg. And good luck, you mouth-breathing, toothless, diabetic, cousin-humpin, mountain-drew chuggin, moon-pie-munchin, pall-mall smokin, trump-suckin pond scum.” Bonner, who was listed as posting from Wessington, Ala., ended his litany...

Two juveniles face charges of aggravated arson in connection with a deadly Tennessee wildfire that began in late November and spread to Gatlinburg, Tennessee, according to Mark Gwyn, director of the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation.

GATLINBURG, Tenn. — Charlotte Moore needed a phone charger. Then she remembered that her home was gone. The realization came as she made the familiar drive up to the top of Laurel Mountain in the Roaring Fork neighborhood of Gatlinburg on Friday, where what lay ahead was anything but familiar. On the first day officials let property owners return to assess the damage from the wildfire that devastated their homes, the eastern Tennessee tourist destination was headed toward an uncertain future. As people were allowed into the city, Sevier County Mayor Larry Waters raised the death toll to 13 and...

As wildfires roar in east Tennessee, forcing thousands of people to evacuate, people still upset over the election of Donald Trump are mocking the plight of Tennesseans. Some even posted that east-Tennessee residents deserve to have their homes, businesses, and forests burned down for voting for Donald Trump. The Tennessee areas engulfed in the wildfires are the towns of of Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge which are popular holiday resorts for families from the region. They are known for the family-friendly, country-music themed, and pro-Christian attractions and activities including Dollywood, the theme park of famed country music singer Dolly Parton. Some...

As Tennessee battles raging wildfires, forcing an evacuation of thousands of people, a number of people on Twitter are mocking their plight, suggesting residents there deserve it for voting for Donald Trump. Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge, the epicenter of the wildfires because of their proximity to Great Smoky Mountains National Park, are popular holiday resorts for conservative and Christian families from the region. The towns have a number of attractions and wholesome family activities, including Dollywood. Some of the tweets, instead of expressing horror, are declaring “let them burn” and “too bad it’s not the whole state burning.” The tweeters...

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 a long time.

GATLINBURG (WATE) – The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation is creating a hotline to help families find their missing loved ones in East Tennessee. People can report missing individuals that they believe are in Gatlinburg, Pigeon Forge or Wears Valley. The hotline is 1-800-TBI-FIND. Giving as much identifying information (names, phone numbers, vehicle information, last known place) will be helpful. TBI asks people to not call the hotline to find out about personal properties. TBI will give the missing person information immediate to law enforcement in the area.

If it hasn't yet occurred to you to pray for Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge I feel negligent that we haven’t dealt with this before now. Yes, it’s nonpolitical, but we normally pay plenty of attention to stories that affect (and especially that threaten) large numbers of people. I don’t know if you’ve ever been to Gatlinburg or Pigeon Forge. I’ve been there several times, and even visited Dollywood, which may be in its final days - or even hours. It occurred to me yesterday that if there’s any silver lining to a situation like this, it’s that people would presumably...

The remains of a home and cars smolder after a wildfire November 29, 2016 in Gatlinburg, Tennessee. Thousands of people have been evacuated from the area and over 100 houses and businesses were damaged or destroyed after drought conditions helped the fire spread through the foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains. (Photo by Brian Blanco/Getty Images) With more than 14,000 people evacuated from the Gatlinburg, Tennessee area and more than 400 homes and businesses damaged or destroyed, the Sevier county wildfire may have been the largest in Tennessee in the last 100 years. But what caused the fire? Experts...

A roaring 500-acre fire is threatening structures in downtown Gatlinburg, Tennessee, where officials have ordered mandatory evacuations. Roads near Great Smoky Mountains National Park are closed, as firefighters battle the flames and gusty winds. There have been no fatalities so far, but three burn victims are in critical condition at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, the Tennessean reported. Officials suspect arson in the fire, which started over the weekend. More than 100 structures have been destroyed by the massive fire, including the home of Gatlinburg Mayor Mike Werner.

"We almost didn't make it out alive But we did Escape The Forest Fire In Chalet Village Tennessee"

GATLINBURG — More than 150 homes and businesses lay in smoking ruins Tuesday after wildfire flames whipped by high-speed winds raged overnight through town and displaced more than 14,000 residents, officials estimated. "This is a fire for the history books," Gatlinburg Fire Chief Greg Miller said at a morning news conference. "The likes of this has never been seen here. But the worst is definitely over with." More than 200 firefighters from across the state remain on the way to help douse the wildfires, and the Tennessee Army National Guard plans to dump water onto the flames from a helicopter,...

I found this doing something else and didn't find it posted yetAnother source had posted a report around 11 AM Eastern "Wildfires in Tennessee damaged hundreds of buildings overnight, forcing thousands of people to evacuate their homes as hundreds of firefighters battled the blazes and smoke that blanketed the foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains." "A statement released Tuesday morning by the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency said that the towns of Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge, as well as other parts of Sevier County, in the eastern part of the state, had been evacuated." "The agency said it was likely that...

GATLINBURG — Firefighters across the state scrambled to douse the wildfires raging through East Tennessee Tuesday morning, and the Tennessee National Guard made plans to dump water onto the flames from a helicopter. Emergency responders have struggled to make a dent into the fires that have devastated Gatlinburg, Pigeon Forge and surrounding areas in Sevier County since high winds helped the flames spread Monday evening Article continues, "Hillbilly Golf, major hotels, a good portion of Regan Drive and countless other businesses and homes were destroyed in the blaze that had firefighters working throughout the night. "The center of Gatlinburg looks...

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.