A few weeks ago, there were several fires in the Smokies. One of them was in Pigeon Forge. Western North Carolina and the eastern part of Tennessee were affected.
Even though most of these fires have been put out or mostly contained because of the dry conditions and increasing winds, wildfires are still a very real possibility.
More than 100 buildings have been damaged by a wildfire in the hills near Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. Officials from Tennessee Wildland Fire are working hard to put out the fire. The Hatcher Mountain Road/Indigo Lane fire has burned about 3,700 acres of land.
Sevier County Emergency Management said that the Shagbark resort and the roads to Hatcher Mountain, Cove Creek, and Indigo were all going to be evacuated.
Other nearby roads were also closed so that emergency vehicles could get there faster. The area where country music queen Dolly Parton lives and where her tourist park, Dollywood, is located is on fire.
On Instagram, Parton sent her condolences to everyone who had been hurt by the California wildfire. “I’ve been keeping up with everything I could find out about the fires near me,” Parton wrote.
“Even though it looks scary on TV, I’m glad that the community has pulled together like they always do.”
“I am so proud of the brave men and women who are fighting the fire.”
Then she asked people to pray for those who had been hurt by the fire. Parton says that she has been told that the area near her Dollywood estate is safe. “I know some people who have been affected, and I hope you will pray with me for them,” she says.
“I’ve also stayed in touch with people at Dollywood, and they’ve told me that everything is fine there.”
A person from Dollywood said that the fire started around 2 p.m. on the roof of a building on the resort’s property that was closed and empty.
The spokesman said that no one was near the fire, and workers were able to put it out before the Pigeon Forge Fire Department got there. A person from the park said that it was still open for business.
The 800-acre Millstone Gap fire, which is the second fire to start in a rural area near the border of Blount and Sevier counties, has been out of control for a long time and is not likely to be stopped. Now, investigators are trying to figure out what started the fires in the first place.
The Pigeon Forge Community Center was a shelter, and the Seymore Heights Christian Church was open as needed for people who needed a safe place to stay.
According to tn.gov, Tennessee has two typical fire seasons. Mid-February to mid-May is the spring fire season. This is when the forest “greens up.”
When the leaves start to fall in the middle of October, the fall fire season officially begins and lasts until the middle of December.
But you should remember that wildfires can start at any time of the year. Fires can also be caused by nature. Experts say, though, that around 85% of wildfires in the United States are caused by people.