At least seven people have died and dozens have been hospitalized in wildfires in Tennessee that have ravaged a popular tourist town and forced thousands from their homes.
Fires in the Great Smoky Mountains tore through Gatlinburg in eastern Tennessee starting Monday. Rain began moving through the area on Wednesday, providing some relief, while fires still raged in other parts.
A Tennessee emergency management agency spokesman, Dean Flener, said any rain will help, but the fires are still an “ongoing situation”.
Search-and-rescue missions continued on Wednesday, and Mayor Larry Waters of Sevier County said they had found three people who had been trapped since the fires started spreading wildly in high winds on Monday night. The mayor said the three were OK.
“That is some good, positive news for a change,” he said.
The mayor said authorities are still working to identify the dead and did not release any details about how they were killed. State law enforcement officials set up a hotline for people to report missing friends and family. Officials have not said how many people may be missing.
By Tuesday evening, almost nothing remained of the Castle, perhaps the largest and most distinctive home overlooking Gatlinburg. Entire churches disappeared. So did the Cupid’s Chapel of Love wedding venue, though its managers promised to move scheduled weddings to a sister venue, Chapel at the Park.
“I’m just astonished this is my town,” Marci Claude, a spokeswoman for the city and for Gatlinburg Convention and Visitors Bureau, told the Associated Press as she saw the destruction for the first time on a media tour on Tuesday.
The wildfires were helped by almost hurricane-force winds on Monday evening and severely dry conditions caused by an ongoing drought.
More than 14,000 residents and tourists were forced to evacuate the tourist city in the mountains, where some hotspots persisted and a curfew was in effect overnight Tuesday. The fire has spanned more than 15,000 acres destroying 150 buildings, according to the National Park Service (NPS).
Investigators are still examining what caused the fire but NPS spokeswoman Dana Soehn said the fire was “human caused”, according to outlet WREG, without elaborating further.
There were fires in Georgia and North Carolina last week as the region is also experiencing a crippling drought, making it ripe for wildfires. Tennessee governor Bill Haslam said the fires were the worst the state has seen in a century.
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A somber reality set in for Gatlinburg, a city of just 3,944 residents that draws more than 11 million visitors a year. But even Gatlinburg’s mayor, Mike Werner, who lost his home in the fire, remained steadfast that the city will recover.
“It’s a devastating time for us and for Gatlinburg,” Werner said at a news conference on Tuesday. “As I said earlier this morning, we’re strong. We’re resilient. And we’re going to make it. We’re going to pull it together and continue to make Gatlinburg the premier resort that it is.”
The Dollywood theme park, named after the country music singer Dolly Parton, is also in the area but it remained intact. Parton released a statement of support on Tuesday. “I am praying for all the families affected by the fire and the firefighters who are working so hard to keep everyone safe,” she said.
“There was fire everywhere. It was like we were in hell,” said Linda Monholland, who was working at Park View Inn in Gatlinburg when she and five other people fled on foot. “Walking through hell, that’s what it was. I can’t believe it. I never want to see something like that again in my life, ever.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report
