Wildfires Close In On Heart of Tennessee (Photos)
Flames force out thousands in the Great Smokies, putting Gatlinburg and Dolly Parton’s popular mountain park in peril.
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Tens of thousands of residents are under mandatory evacuation orders Tuesday as wildfires narrowed in on the heart of Tennessee’s Great Smoky Mountains. The region known best as the home to country superstar Dolly Parton and her amusement park Dollywood, as well as its exceedingly beautiful landscape became the scene of horror late Monday as crews battled 14 separate fires that destroyed homes, resorts, and threatened an aquarium that houses more than 11,000 animals in the popular destination towns of Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge.
Here, smoke plumes near Gatlinburg on Monday.
Courtesy of National Park Services Staff/Reuters
Motorists stop to view wildfires near Gatlinburg.
Courtesy of National Park Services Staff/Reuters
A firefighter battles a wildfire, in Clayton, Georgia. On Tuesday, the Tennessee Valley Authority issued a burn ban on its public lands across Tennessee and in parts of Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, and Virginia. U.S. Forest Service spokesman Adam Rondeau has said the agency is tracking wildfires that have burned a total of 80,000 acres across the South, which is suffering from a prolonged drought. Photo taken Nov. 15, 2016.
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A wildfire smolders after burning a hillside, in Clayton, Georgia.
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Firefighters walk down a dirt road a wildfire burns a hillside in Clayton, Georgia. Smoky conditions have plagued those with lung ailments across the South as wildfires have spread in recent weeks.
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Firefighters Valarie Lopez (left) and Mark Tabaez work to cool hot spots after a wildfire burned the Clayton hillside.
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