![]() ![]() “Everything was like a perfect storm,” Cassius Cash, superintendent of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, told CNN affiliate WATE. The winds also knocked down power lines, igniting new fires, according to authorities. Strong gusts scattered embers across long distances, starting fires that fed off drought-stricken trees. On Monday afternoon, a wildfire from the Great Smoky Mountains National Park spread rapidly into nearby communities. DeSear said he’s hoping some staff will be allowed back into the facility Tuesday morning to assess the damage. The facility’s webcam showed lights and power still working inside, but he’s concerned about the deteriorating air quality, as well as the smoke and flames. Staff were forced to evacuate Monday evening, and the animals still are inside, Ripley Entertainment Regional Manager Ryan DeSear told CNN Tuesday.ĭeSear said that according to reports he has received, the building is still standing. Other popular Gatlinburg attractions appeared under threat, including Ripley’s Aquarium of the Smokies. Comments from representatives of those businesses weren’t immediately available. The fires have forced evacuations from downtown Gatlinburg - a city of about 4,000 residents but a vacation attraction for many more - as well as the town of Pigeon Forge and nearby communities.īut the scope of the disaster was difficult to quantify, and conflicting reports emerged about whether major resorts were among the properties destroyed.įlener said three Gatlinburg-area resorts appear to have been destroyed, including Ober Gatlinburg, the ski resort and amusement park that overlook the town.īut Ober Gatlinburg’s Twitter account posted Tuesday morning that the “property is okay.”įlener, citing initial reports from Sevier County emergency management officials, said the other apparently destroyed resorts were the Black Bear Falls log-cabin rental resort and the Westgate Mountain Resort & Spa. “If you’re a person of prayer, we could use your prayers,” Gatlinburg Fire Chief Greg Miller said Monday evening as crews battled wind gusts of up to 70 mph.įour people have been injured in the blazes, which have been spurred by strong winds and the Southeast’s worst drought in nearly a decade, Tennessee Emergency Management Agency spokesman Dean Flener said Tuesday. Several homes and businesses in the town nestled among the Great Smoky Mountains have been destroyed, including a 16-story hotel and an apartment complex that was consumed by flames, the state emergency management agency said Tuesday morning. GATLINBURG, TN – Wildfires raged in and near eastern Tennessee’s mountainside resort town of Gatlinburg on Tuesday, spurring evacuations and prompting conflicting reports about whether certain popular resorts have been destroyed or are in danger. Please look at the time stamp on the story to see when it was last updated. This is an archived article and the information in the article may be outdated.
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