Culture

The Monstrous Gatlinburg Wildfires Force Thousands To Evacuate In Tennessee

On Tuesday morning, the resort city of Gatlinburg, Tennessee and the surrounding area were overcome by a series of massive wildfires triggered by strong winds, drought conditions and a much smaller fire originating from the nearby Great Smokey Mountains National Park. The fires raged through the day and night on Monday, but come Tuesday, the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency issued an official evacuation order for all of Gatlinburg, Pigeon Forge and other towns and facilities in the region. Reports indicate that over 14,000 people have already left the area.

Dubbed the “Gateway to the Great Smoky Mountains” by locals and the tourism industry, Gatlinburg boasts a population of just over 4,000 people according to the 2012 census. However, considering the permanent population of Pigeon Forge and other nearby communities — as well as the ongoing array of tourists visiting the area for its parks and nearly in-season ski resorts — TEMA’s evacuation order applied to a much larger swathe of people.

Per local CBS affiliate WLVT, around 50 to 60 fire crews and “150 personnel from outside the area” were battling the fires throughout the night on Monday and early Tuesday. Despite their efforts, at least four people with burns have been transported to area hospitals for treatment. Three of these remain in critical condition, according to a representative of Vanderbilt Medical Center, though no fatalities due to the fires have been reported as of this writing.

Meanwhile, USA Today reported that employees at Ripley’s Aquarium of the Smokeys had to abandon over 10,000 animals kept at their facility when the fires came within 50 yards of the building on Monday. General Manager Ryan DeSear said “As long as we have fuel in our generators, that aquarium can run on its own,” though he wasn’t sure of the aquarium’s condition when he spoke with the outlet.

DeSear stressed that his employees really didn’t want to leave the animals behind:

“They were force evacuated,” DeSear said. “To them, every animal has a name. You don’t give that up.”

Unfortunately, he said, “Nothing is more important than human life. Fish can be replaced. It sucks.”

As people left Gatlinburg on their own Monday evening, or left when TEMA ordered them to Tuesday morning, they took to social media to post messages to loved ones about their safety. They also used the platforms to post dramatic photos and videos of their escapes, as well as the monstrous fires and massive amounts of damage they encountered along the way:

(Via WVLT, CNN and USA Today)

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