Thread: Bad news in Tennessee

Fires ripping thru downtown Gatlinburg across to pigeon forge. Many residents evacuated. 3o bldgs in downtown. Aquarium threatened, employees evacuated Dollywood evacuated Apparently the timber is so dry and high winds sweeping the fire along the forest from city to city Prayers needed

I live about an hour or so from Gburg, TV reports say downtown Gburg ok, no damage, but lots of the surrounding areas is pretty bad. 3 dead as of an hour ago, (probably more will be found in the near future), 15 or so injured, 3 taken to Vanderbilt Hospital burn center.

The wind was 20mph+ all day yesterday at the house, and in the mountains, they were saying winds gusts of over 70mph, TV footage showed cabins/homes/buildings completely engulfed in flames and the flames were being blown sideways due to winds. With the extreme drought conditions we are in. everything was nothing more than match sticks, and a lot of the homes & cabins were built to look rustic (mostly wood), so it was a bad scene.

The rain helped, but did not get there soon enough so lots of buildings burned completely. Heard where the fires started from wind damage to trees knocking down power lines. There were fires in Pigeon Forge area, Cobbly Nob, close to downtown Gburg.

One father went down the mountain to see how far the fire was from their house, and then he could not get back up to his house & family (wife and 2 small girls) and has not heard from them all day. It's sad.