The news last night showed the hill behind our hotel in Gatlinburg was on fire. Get out." He and his wife beat on doors of the two floors of the cabins they were in and left. The man went outside to get ice and saw flames. He called 911 and was told they had no trucks to send. Another couple was staying near Ober Gatlinburg and they said they weren't even told to evacuate. ![]() One couple was staying at The Westgate Smoky Mountain Resort and Spa, which was destroyed, from what we heard. This morning at the hotel, we were eating breakfast with others who had run from the fires. The employees told us that they we closing the roads down due to smoke and the spreading fire. They advised us to not stop till Knoxville just to be safe. the intersection before our motel was closed. I remembered there was a back road and told Matt to take it back to the hotel so we could get our bags. Mistake. By the time we looked around a bit and had dinner we were on our way to evacuation 2.Ĭoming back from dinner about 9 p.m. Fire trucks were going by every 20 minutes into Gatlinburg. We decided to stay the night there at Best Western Plaza Inn. We made it down to Pigeon Forge and the air was a lot better. It still smelled like a bonfire, but there was only a light haze to the air. They even poked fun at a woman they knew who was hustling to her car to leave town. We told them we were told there was going to be an evacuation and they kind of laughed that off. We were told we could check out now if we wanted and they would not charge us. We were staying at Jack Huff's Motor Lodge at light 6. I told Matt if that was the case we should go now before things got worse and traffic got really bad. Watch Video: Gatlinburg wildfire threatens wildlife, properties He told us that we'd be evacuated by this evening. The smoke and ash was thicker and beginning to burn our throat and eyes. ![]() We stopped to talk to a worker at one of the attractions and he said he'd been there 20 years and never saw anything like this. The chairlift was no longer operating and Ober Gatlinburg was closed. A lot of the shops were closing and power was flickering along the strip as trees fell into power lines. We made it back to Gatlinburg about noon and the smoke had really begun to set in. Standing along the sidewalks, you couldn't even see the mountains anymore. The Space Needle was not visible even if you stood directly across the street from it. The trees were swaying dangerously and Matt and I were grateful the trip back was almost completely downhill. All of us oblivious to what was going on back in Gatlinburg. At the falls, the air was clear but the wind was really kicking up. We hiked about a mile up to Laurel Falls, passing many other couples and families. View Gallery: Photos: Wildfires continue to wreak havoc on GatlinburgĪfter breakfast we decided to see if we could go for another hike, but park rangers were now blocking 441 into the mountains. You could still go up Fighting Creek Gap, so we did that.
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