Emergency officials in Tennessee say a wildfire has set 30 structures ablaze in Gatlinburg, including a 16-story hotel, and is at the edge of the Dollywood theme park.
Tennessee Emergency Management Agency spokesman Dean Flener says in a news release Monday night that mandatory evacuations were underway for areas in and around Gatlinburg, including the south part of Pigeon Forge, where Dolly Parton’s theme park is.
Flener says strong afternoon winds fanned the wildfire on land in the great Smoky Mountains National Park to move quickly onto private property.
TEMA says no deaths have been reported.
Gatlinburg police had been going door to door in one neighborhood asking for voluntary evacuations. But the Knoxville News Sentinel reported that as wind picked up and fallen trees sparked fires from downed lines, Gatlinburg fire officials declared a mandatory evacuation of a larger area.
The newspaper said some park employees were also evacuating and some locations closed.
Here is a list of shelter locations:
LeConte Center at Pigeon Forge
Pigeon Forge Community Center
Liberty Baptist Church in Wears Valley
Iglesia Cristiana LaDuz De Jesus.
The First Redbank Baptist Church in Sevierville
Schools will be closed Tuesday in one county school district due to the fires.
Gatlinburg Fire Chief Greg Miller asked for patience and prayers for the communities involved during a press conference.
“We urge the public to pray,” Miller told reporters. “We urge the public to stay off the highways. The traffic that is on the roads is emergency equipment. If (the public) could just stay home and stay tuned to their local media outlet.”
Associated Press
