Gatlinburg, TN fire

I've got racing friends in eastern TN and western NC --- some very close to the fires.
Gatlinburg is such a beautiful place --- it is a miracle no one has lost their life.
 
Really sucks what has happened there, Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge is a great place. Fortunately they're supposed to get some pretty heavy rain tonight and tomorrow, hopefully that will extinguish any remaining fire.
 
Went to Gatlinburg on my honeymoon, so it's always been a special place to me. We were planning on going back in two years for our 15th anniversary. Found out yesterday the cabin we stayed in is in ruins. :(
 
We've been many times, the last time was about 3 years ago. We stayed in a cabin near Dollywood, we liked it so much that i followed it on facebook.

Unfortunately I just saw an update from the owner that it is now gone.

So sad to see the devastation.
 
We stayed in a cabin overlooking Pigeon Forge and Dollywood back in August. They had had a fire about a year ago that had taken out several cabins (we were told about 20) around that area. There were several vacant lots in the area we stayed in where the cabins were destroyed by fire and you could see where the path of the fire had went up the mountains around us. The cabin we were staying in had had structural damage to the deck and you could tell where they had made repairs to it. My son and daughter-in-law stayed there for their Honeymoon 8 years ago and they saw a cabin burn down a short distance from where they stayed. Just makes me think about how the urban interface with nature makes for great accommodations for those who want to get out and experience nature, but still comes with some risks. But I think the recent fire was more like the perfect storm. Conditions couldn't have been any worse for a disaster like that to happen.
 
dirtguru said:
We stayed in a cabin overlooking Pigeon Forge and Dollywood back in August. They had had a fire about a year ago that had taken out several cabins (we were told about 20) around that area. There were several vacant lots in the area we stayed in where the cabins were destroyed by fire and you could see where the path of the fire had went up the mountains around us. The cabin we were staying in had had structural damage to the deck and you could tell where they had made repairs to it. My son and daughter-in-law stayed there for their Honeymoon 8 years ago and they saw a cabin burn down a short distance from where they stayed. Just makes me think about how the urban interface with nature makes for great accommodations for those who want to get out and experience nature, but still comes with some risks. But I think the recent fire was more like the perfect storm. Conditions couldn't have been any worse for a disaster like that to happen.
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Dirt, i hate to say this, but from what i've heard, there were a lot of cabins right near dollywood that are gone now, i hope the one you're talking about isnt one of them. With where that fire was, i have a feeling there is a good chance it is gone.

It's so sad to see all the news coming out of there.
 
This is so sad. The Smoky Mountains is one of my families favorite places to go on vacation. I feel so bad for all those people and also all the animals in the Mountains there.
 
Go Panthers said:
Dirt, i hate to say this, but from what i've heard, there were a lot of cabins right near dollywood that are gone now, i hope the one you're talking about isnt one of them. With where that fire was, i have a feeling there is a good chance it is gone.

It's so sad to see all the news coming out of there.
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I've been checking on their web site but they haven't mentioned anything about it yet. Hope it didn't suffer damage we wanted to go back and stay there again. Saw a lot of wildlife in that area too. Hopefully it was sparred since it was closer to the DollyWood side of WearsValley Road . I still kinda chuckle because while we were there my wife kept saying she wanted see a bear. So we spent one whole day riding through the Smokies and Cade's Cove but all we saw were deer. We finally came back to the cabin that evening and were sitting out on the deck drinking coffee and I turned and saw a bear getting ready to come up on our deck. I told her that he must have heard you were looking for him so here he is. He just looked at us and turned around and stepped back off the deck. But I noticed that all the trash cans outside were enclosed in cages and you could tell that something had been trying to claw them open.
 
dirtguru said:
I've been checking on their web site but they haven't mentioned anything about it yet. Hope it didn't suffer damage we wanted to go back and stay there again. Saw a lot of wildlife in that area too. Hopefully it was sparred since it was closer to the DollyWood side of WearsValley Road . I still kinda chuckle because while we were there my wife kept saying she wanted see a bear. So we spent one whole day riding through the Smokies and Cade's Cove but all we saw were deer. We finally came back to the cabin that evening and were sitting out on the deck drinking coffee and I turned and saw a bear getting ready to come up on our deck. I told her that he must have heard you were looking for him so here he is. He just looked at us and turned around and stepped back off the deck. But I noticed that all the trash cans outside were enclosed in cages and you could tell that something had been trying to claw them open.
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Im keeping my fingers crossed that its ok. That place is heaven and my heart is broken for all those people up there.

The place we stayed at had a porch on the front, with steps on the side and a front yard, so you had to kind of walk down and around to the front yard. My wife and I went to spend the afternoon at Dollywood, so my mom took our dog out to the front yard. My sister is on the porch..."mom, there's a bear in the trash!". My sister said she's never seen my mom run so fast back to the porch.
 
dpkimmel2001 said:
+14 deaths associated with their actions.
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I know, and personally I wouldn't be surprised if the number rose higher once search and recovery is complete. Arsonists that do this kind of things don't care that who they hurt or kill, and they kill indiscriminately because fire cannot be controlled.
 
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