Archived News

After the fire

After the fire

When hurricane-force winds met burning, bone-dry forest, the city of Gatlinburg transformed overnight on Nov. 28-29 from lively tourist town to panic-seared disaster area. Gusts clocking in as high as 87 miles per hours blew balls of fire down from the blaze’s origin in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, catching residents and visitors by surprise in the days following Thanksgiving. People raced to evacuate, to escape the flames that threatened to consume the entire city.

SEE ALSO:
• Lucky to be alive
• A checkerboard of devastation
• Where to go from here
• Rain quells wildfires across the region

One week later, rains had quelled the fire, which occupied 17,006 acres with 58 percent containment as of Tuesday, Dec. 6. But 14 people had lost their lives, more than 145 had been injured and 1,753 structures had been damaged or destroyed. The fire left wounds that will take time to heal. 

From a Red Cross shelter to the rubble heaps checkering the city to a Texas Roadhouse restaurant where a pair of fire survivors took a much-needed break over beer and steak, stories of loss, anger and hope abound in Gatlinburg.

Smokey Mountain News Logo
SUPPORT THE SMOKY MOUNTAIN NEWS AND
INDEPENDENT, AWARD-WINNING JOURNALISM
Go to top
Payment Information

/

At our inception 20 years ago, we chose to be different. Unlike other news organizations, we made the decision to provide in-depth, regional reporting free to anyone who wanted access to it. We don’t plan to change that model. Support from our readers will help us maintain and strengthen the editorial independence that is crucial to our mission to help make Western North Carolina a better place to call home. If you are able, please support The Smoky Mountain News.

The Smoky Mountain News is a wholly private corporation. Reader contributions support the journalistic mission of SMN to remain independent. Your support of SMN does not constitute a charitable donation. If you have a question about contributing to SMN, please contact us.