6 victims of Gatlinburg wildfires identified

Waters declared that Sevier County was “open for business”.

Mayor Waters says all the fires are extinguished in the county and city, but some hot spots remain.

The death toll from the historic wildfire in Tennessee has climbed to more than a dozen, authorities said Friday.

A couple from southwestern Ontario are among the victims of wildfires in Tennessee. Smoke billows from the remains of a home on the northern outskirts of Gatlinburg, Tenn., Thursday, Dec. 1, 2016. He did not say where Vance’s body was recovered but he did note that Vance death was attributed to a heart attack she suffered while trying to escape the fires.

Tucker is being held in Grundy County jail and additional charges are pending. Officials suspect nearly half of them are arson.

The Republican governor on Thursday suspended certain state laws and eased other requirements to help victims of the storms.

Waters and other local officials said the fire moved so far so fast that it gave them little time to react.

Firefighters and emergency crews continued to work their way through fire-ravaged remote areas of Gatlinburg and surrounding Sevier County amid blocked roads, downed power lines, fallen trees and mudslides.

Click the slideshow for more details of their lives and more information about how they were killed. He said authorities haven’t been able to find them. “Most people are numb, but they care about finding these people”.

Clayton said in his 30 years as a park ranger and official, he’s never seen a fire spread so quickly. Hurricane-force winds toppled trees and power lines, blowing embers in all directions.

She found a coaster in the rubble that her 27-year-old daughter had made as a child.

Around 134 people were injured in the fires that burned through much of the resort town, leaving many displaced.

County Mayor Larry Waters said they hope to have Gatlinburg open to the public by next Wednesday. A devastating wildfire destroyed numerous homes and buildings on Monday. They were taken to hospital in Nashville, and one has since been released.

“We all grew up playing in these mountains”, Haslam said. After that, he’ll have to start over from scratch.

“The only thing left standing was the flagpole”, King said. “We lost everything. But we’re alive, thank goodness”. In Pigeon Forge, which saw structures heavily damaged, the Dollywood amusement park was spared and reopened Friday.

“The National Park Service and the ATF investigators continue to investigate the origin of this fire which appears to have been caused by human”, Cassius Cash, Superintendent of the Great Smoky Mountain National Park said.

A former Woodstock couple among the 13 killed in a Gatlinburg, Tenn wildfire.

Friday marked the first time residents in the hardest-hit parts of town were allowed to return to their homes and buildings to assess damage. That cabin and many others, as well as a home he was about to buy, were destroyed, he said.

Werner was one of several city officials managing the crisis while dealing with personal losses.

Almost 1,000 homes and businesses were damaged. As she drove her auto down the road, she placed her hand against the window for a moment but had to jerk it away because the heat had burned her. “So I think that’s how I’m getting through this, is focusing more on others than myself because so many other people are in the same boat”.