Troops to Help as Wildfires Spread in Smokies

Sevier County Mayor Larry Waters says more than 400 structures have been destroyed by fires in the country.

“Rains will help extinguish later fuels, but it’s not enough rain like bigger things burning like stumps and logs”. “The wind is not helping, and the rain is not here yet”, Gatlinburg Fire Department Chief Greg Miller said in a news conference. “We got disconnected and I have not been able to get in touch with her since”, said Wood.

Tammy Dillon had just come home from work when police banged on her door around 9:30 p.m. Monday. That is hurricane force.

“Everywhere you looked, there were fires everywhere, It was like driving into hell”, Sneedville, Tenn., Fire Department Lieutenant Rain Moore – who helped fight the fires in Gatlinburg – told the New York Times.

Embers blew as far as a mile away, sparking new fires. “We’re all knocking on wood”.

“I could tell many cabins were on fire”, he said.

Update: 8:45 a.m.

Guest cabins at Dollywood have been evacuated amid a series of raging wildfires nearby in Tennessee, according to a representative for the resort and the state’s emergency management agency.

Flener said preliminary information indicates that Ober Gatlinburg was destroyed, along with about 100 buildings from the Westgate Smoky Mountain Resort.

However, some early reports have already proved incorrect. “TEMA encourages residents in Sevier County to stay off mobile devices, unless it is an emergency, to prevent outage”.

Also open for evacuations: The First Red Bank Baptist Church in Sevierville and First Baptist Church of Sevierville. 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.

“Hell opened up”, her co-worker Sissy Stinnett said.

There were numerous social media posts from people who were taking shelter in the hotel lobby, and you could see flames right outside the windows.

“It’s still a wildfire fighting effort”, he says.

The fire grew from 10-12 acres on Sunday, Nov. 27 to 500 acres on Monday, Nov. 28, said Warren Bielenberg, Smokies spokesman.

Wildfires in the Tennessee resort towns of Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge have killed at least three people, prompted mass evacuations and burned dozens of homes and businesses.

As residents and tourists fled, crews from around the state arrived.

The National Guard has been mobilized to Sevier County, CBS affiliate WVLT reported. Emergency responders are asking everyone else to stay away.

Officials confirmed a new fatality Wednesday, saying the victim was found at a motel. “We’ve had four reports of injuries”.

A 16-story hotel is among the structures that have been destroyed.

Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam said in a statement on Twitter that National Guardsmen had been deployed to assist those that the inferno affected.

“It’s a very sad situation”, Solomon says in the video. Evacuations were also ordered for the north end of Pigeon Forge. “Oh my god, it’s so hot”.

Schools in several counties are closed. By early evening the circumstances in and around Gatlinburg were threatening and regional response teams were called to the area.

Backcountry areas are unsafe for travel and the following trails and backcountry campsites are now closed until further notice: Chimney Tops, Road Prong, Huskey Gap, Sugarland Mountain, Rough Creek, Little River, Cucumber Gap, Jakes Creek, Miry Ridge, Goshen Prong, Old Sugarlands, Bullhead, Rainbow Falls, Alum Cave, Brushy Mountain, Trillium Gap, Baskins Creek, Porters Creek, and Grapeyard Ridge trails.