Thursday, December 1, 2016

Disastrous Fires In Tennessee


Death toll rises to seven in Tennessee's 

Great Smoky Mountains fires


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Burned buildings and cars aftermath of wildfire is seen in this image released in social media by Tennessee Highway Patrol in Gatlinburg, Tennessee, U.S. on November 29, 2016. Courtesy Tennessee Highway Patrol/Handout via REUTERS
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By Steve Gorman
The death toll from wildfires blazing in and around the Great Smoky Mountains
 National Park in Tennessee rose to seven on Wednesday even as drenching rains
 helped firefighters suppress flames that have left whole neighborhoods in ruins.
The tally of documented property losses from the fires also climbed to more
than 700 structures damaged or destroyed throughout Sevier County, including
 at least 300 in the resort town of Gatlinburg.
On Tuesday, authorities reported about 150 structures damaged or destroyed
by fire.
Aerial news footage broadcast on local television showed the burned-out,
smoking ruins of dozens of homes surrounded by blackened trees in several
neighborhoods.
In one piece of good news, Sevier County Mayor Larry Waters told a late
afternoon news conference on Wednesday that three people who were trapped
 by the fire were safely rescued, treated at a local hospital and released.
He gave no details about the circumstances of their rescue.
But three more bodies were recovered earlier in the day, bringing the number
 of confirmed fatalities from the disaster to seven, but none of the victims had
been positively identified, he said.
As many as 45 fire-related injuries were reported by the Tennessee Department
 of Health.
Mandatory evacuation orders remained in effect for some 14,000 people in
 and around Gatlinburg, along with a dusk-to-dawn curfew for the city, known
 as the "gateway to the Great Smoky Mountains."
But nearly all of the estimated 500 people forced from their homes in the
nearby town of Pigeon Forge were allowed to return, according to fire
department spokeswoman Trish McGee. Pigeon Forge is home to country
music star Dolly Parton's theme park, Dollywood, which suspended operations
 through Wednesday.
The Great Smoky Mountains National Park was likewise closed to the public
due to extensive fire activity and downed trees.
The so-called Chimney Top fire, the principal blaze menacing the area, exploded
 in the national park on Monday evening as wind gusts reached nearly 90
 miles per hour (145 km per hour), spreading the flames through drought-
parched trees and brush into surrounding homes and businesses.
TV news footage showed numerous homes going up in flames, silhouetted
against an ominous orange sky.
By Wednesday afternoon, the fire zone had scorched
 an estimated 15,700 acres, but firefighters made
considerable progress in containing the blaze, helped
 by steady showers that drenched the area Tuesday
 night into Wednesday.
"We're thankful to the big guy up above for that rain,
that's for sure," Waters said.
Gatlinburg Fire Chief Greg Miller said many of his
crews were busy on Wednesday helping clear downed
power lines, mudslides and other debris from roadways to allow search teams
and recovery crews into more remote areas of the fire zone.
President Barack Obama spoke on Wednesday with Tennessee Governor
Bill Haslam to express condolences for lives lost and his sympathies for
 those displaced and injured, and to offer any support needed, according to
the White House.
(Reporting by Steve Gorman in Los Angeles; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)

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