A historic wildfire in Gatlinburg, Tennessee, has caused $1 billion in damage and forced thousands of residents to evacuate the area. The fire has left 14 people dead, damaged over 2,000 buildings, and left thousands of guests homeless. Honeymoon Hills Cabin Rentals in Gatlinburg offers a private cabin for two with a huge heart-shaped jetted whirlpool tub, outdoor hot tub, pool table, and more.
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The Great Smoky Mountains Institute at Tremont confirmed that no park structures have been damaged by the fires in the Elkmont or Park Headquarters area, but minor damage from downed trees. Hillbilly Golf, a 150-acre theme park in nearby Pigeon Forge, escaped major damage in the blaze.
The Gatlinburg TN Cabin Rental offers a private cabin for two with a huge red heart-shaped jetted whirlpool tub and outdoor hot tub nestled on their beautiful mountain top. The location is quiet and secluded, but convenient to both Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg.
In December 2016, Michael Luciano escaped Chalet Village in Gatlinburg, escaping the fire on both sides of the road. The cabin was super cute, clean, and semi-secluded, with a spotless grill.
📹 I found this in Gatlinburg, TN and Climbed to see what it was🤔
I’m very familiar with the Great Smoky Mountains, Gatlinburg, and Pigeon Forge being a Tennessee native, but climbing up the …
Has Gatlinburg recovered from the fire?
The Gatlinburg area has seen people rebuild and remember. Today, we remember those who died and thank our first responders. Our firefighters ran into the fires to save lives and property. Our police and sheriff’s deputies evacuated people and protected the public. Our dispatchers, paramedics, EMTs, and other first responders who helped those in need, as well as the organizations that came to aid the Smoky Mountains, and everyone who assisted in the response to this terrible moment in our community,” added McCarter. The City of Gatlinburg and Sevier County held a dedication ceremony for the 2016 Wildfires Memorial and Tribute Plaza at Mynatt Park earlier this year.
What happened to the juveniles who started the Gatlinburg fires?
Two juveniles started the fire in a remote part of the park. Prosecutors dropped the charges against the boys in June because other fires caused the Gatlinburg fire.
How many have died in the Gatlinburg fire?
The fires killed 14 people. Rev. Dr. Ed Taylor, John Tegler, Marilyn Tegler, Alice Hagler, Robert Hejny, Constance Reed, Chloe Reed, Lily Reed, Elaine Brown, Pamela Johnson, Bradley Phillips. Jon, Janet, and May. Two juveniles were originally charged with arson, but the charges were dropped due to lack of evidence.
Video went viral on social media. Fire burns up mountains. People need to go down to get away. The two met on a mountain road and it was caught on video. In 2016, WATE 6 spoke with Sevierville Fire Department Lt. Steve Coker, who drove through flames. The video says it all. Coker is now a Battalion Chief.
How much of Gatlinburg burned?
By December 12, the fires had burned over 10,000 acres inside the park and 6,000 acres elsewhere. At least 14,000 people were forced to leave their homes, and over 2,000 buildings were damaged or destroyed. One of the largest fires was the Chimney Tops 2 Fire, which burned more than 10,000 acres and closed the Chimney Tops Trail. The Great Smoky Mountains wildfires were the deadliest in Tennessee and the eastern U.S. since the Great Fires of 1947. They were also the most deadly and destructive of the 2016 Southeastern United States wildfires.
How many people were killed in the Gatlinburg fire?
The fires killed 14 people. Rev. Dr. Ed Taylor, John Tegler, Marilyn Tegler, Alice Hagler, Robert Hejny, Constance Reed, Chloe Reed, Lily Reed, Elaine Brown, Pamela Johnson, Bradley Phillips. Jon, Janet, and May. Two juveniles were originally charged with arson, but the charges were dropped due to lack of evidence.
Video went viral on social media. Fire burns up mountains. People need to go down to get away. The two met on a mountain road and it was caught on video. In 2016, WATE 6 spoke with Sevierville Fire Department Lt. Steve Coker, who drove through flames. The video says it all. Coker is now a Battalion Chief.
What happened to the kid that started the Multnomah Falls fire?
In February 2018, a judge gave the teen who started the fire five years probation and 1,920 hours of community service with the Forest Service. In May, the court ordered him to pay $36.6 million. If he does his community service in 10 years, he won’t have to pay back the money.
Teen who admitted to setting #EagleCreekFire apologizes — Judge sentenced him to up to 5 years probation and 1,920 hours of community service with the U.S. Forest Service. pic.twitter.com/f99wmDkv3G.
Chris Harper is an assistant fire management officer with the U.S. Forest Service. We talked to him about how the Eagle Creek recreation area has recovered since the wildfire.
What parts of Gatlinburg burned?
2017: The current SkyLift was installed in 2017 after the 2016 wildfires. It has 92 new three-seat chairs replacing the old two-seaters. The ticket building in downtown Gatlinburg survived the fire, but the upper terminal, towers, and other buildings on Crockett Mountain were destroyed. The fire burned everything in the buildings to ash. Helicopters were used to remove the old towers because of the size of the pieces and the steep landscape. On March 21, 2019, the new SkyLift chairlift towers and tower heads were flown in by helicopter. Crews on the towers guided the new parts into place and climbed the towers to attach the heads. The new ride is smoother and quieter. The new SkyLift, the first part of the park to be rebuilt, opened on Memorial Day weekend 2017, six months after the disaster. Today, the SkyCenter remembers the fire with photos and a flag that was burned.
2019: SkyBridge Opens In May 2019, the SkyBridge opened after seven months of construction. It is the longest pedestrian suspension bridge in North America. Ninety percent of the trees on the mountainside burned in the wildfires, making the views and experience on the bridge even more dramatic.
Did the aquarium in Gatlinburg burn down?
Ripleys Aquarium of the Smokies said all animals inside its Gatlinburg facility are safe.
Aquarium employees had to leave yesterday because wildfires were near the facility. Homes and businesses in Gatlinburg and Sevier County were burned. At least 250 homes and businesses have been destroyed or damaged. Video from the aquarium yesterday showed flames and smoke. At the time of the evacuation, aquarium officials said the animals at the facility could survive at least 24 hours. The building was powered by a generator. On Tuesday morning, aquarium officials said they couldn’t go back into the building. But later, they said marine biologists went back with police to check on the animals.
What started the fire in Gatlinburg?
The fire started on November 23. Police arrested two teenagers, aged 15 and 17, who investigators believe were playing with matches while hiking one of the most popular trails in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The air was hazy and orange with smoke for several days as the fire burned around fifty acres near the top of the peaks. On the twenty-eighth, something happened. It was an event, according to the National Park Service. Investigators haven’t been able to map the fire’s exact spread. It may have burned a large evergreen, which started a firebrand. The term for a flaming chunk of wood or leaves. The fierce winds that day blew the fire a half mile from the ridge of the shorter Chimney Top, north over Highway 441, and onto the western slope of Mount LeConte. This is called long-range spotting. The area had been dry for months. Once the fire crossed the highway, it was hard to control. It kept spreading north, towards the city. Nobody knew what was coming. Many of the town’s service industry employees lived in motels and didn’t own cars. They walked to work that day, like ghosts, covering their mouths. When the fire came to Gatlinburg that night, John Jillson, who worked odd jobs and lived in a motel room, went outside the Travelers Motel to visit a friend. He saw fireballs racing over his head and onto the motel roof. He was blown over and fell into the ash. He couldn’t get up. “I realized the noises were the trees,” he recalls. “They were on fire and popping.” When I came outside, the whole roof was on fire. I don’t know what time it was. The wind stopped. I stood up. In March, Jillson was living in a dump truck with a bag of clothes. The fire took his motel room and two friends.
What happened to the Gatlinburg arsonists?
The boys, aged 17 and 15, were cleared of arson charges. Defense attorney Gregory Isaacs confirmed this to the Knoxville News. Isaacs represented the younger boy. The teens’ identities are unknown. At a Friday press conference, Isaacs said the state can’t prove the boys started the fire. “My client and the other juvenile didn’t cause the death and devastation in Gatlinburg,” Isaacs said. He added that the state made an unfortunate rush to judgment of the teens. This is the first news about the teens since their arrests last year. The two were charged with arson on Dec. 7, about two weeks after a fire in the Great Smoky Mountain National Park killed 14 people, destroyed homes and businesses, and forced the evacuation of more than 14,000 people from the tourist towns.
Who was responsible for the Gatlinburg fire?
The fire started on November 23. Police arrested two teenagers, aged 15 and 17, who investigators believe were playing with matches while hiking one of the most popular trails in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The air was hazy and orange with smoke for several days as the fire burned around fifty acres near the top of the peaks. On the twenty-eighth, something happened. It was an event, according to the National Park Service. Investigators haven’t been able to map the fire’s exact spread. It may have burned a large evergreen, which started a firebrand. The term for a flaming chunk of wood or leaves. The fierce winds that day blew the fire a half mile from the ridge of the shorter Chimney Top, north over Highway 441, and onto the western slope of Mount LeConte. This is called long-range spotting. The area had been dry for months. Once the fire crossed the highway, it was hard to control. It kept spreading north, towards the city. Nobody knew what was coming. Many of the town’s service industry employees lived in motels and didn’t own cars. They walked to work that day, like ghosts, covering their mouths. When the fire came to Gatlinburg that night, John Jillson, who worked odd jobs and lived in a motel room, went outside the Travelers Motel to visit a friend. He saw fireballs racing over his head and onto the motel roof. He was blown over and fell into the ash. He couldn’t get up. “I realized the noises were the trees,” he recalls. “They were on fire and popping.” When I came outside, the whole roof was on fire. I don’t know what time it was. The wind stopped. I stood up. In March, Jillson was living in a dump truck with a bag of clothes. The fire took his motel room and two friends.
What started the Gatlinburg fire?
The fire started on November 23. Police arrested two teenagers, aged 15 and 17, who investigators believe were playing with matches while hiking one of the most popular trails in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The air was hazy and orange with smoke for several days as the fire burned around fifty acres near the top of the peaks. On the twenty-eighth, something happened. It was an event, according to the National Park Service. Investigators haven’t been able to map the fire’s exact spread. It may have burned a large evergreen, which started a firebrand. The term for a flaming chunk of wood or leaves. The fierce winds that day blew the fire a half mile from the ridge of the shorter Chimney Top, north over Highway 441, and onto the western slope of Mount LeConte. This is called long-range spotting. The area had been dry for months. Once the fire crossed the highway, it was hard to control. It kept spreading north, towards the city. Nobody knew what was coming. Many of the town’s service industry employees lived in motels and didn’t own cars. They walked to work that day, like ghosts, covering their mouths. When the fire came to Gatlinburg that night, John Jillson, who worked odd jobs and lived in a motel room, went outside the Travelers Motel to visit a friend. He saw fireballs racing over his head and onto the motel roof. He was blown over and fell into the ash. He couldn’t get up. “I realized the noises were the trees,” he recalls. “They were on fire and popping.” When I came outside, the whole roof was on fire. I don’t know what time it was. The wind stopped. I stood up. In March, Jillson was living in a dump truck with a bag of clothes. The fire took his motel room and two friends.
📹 Couple Escapes Gatlinburg Fire During Their Honeymoon
Couple Escapes Gatlinburg Fire During Their Honeymoon.
It wasn’t a natural disaster, but it was a disaster. It was terrifying. It was like a war zone afterwards. So many cars melted to the road, it was raining embers for days (before it made it to the city and after), and so much wildlife was destroyed and what lived was forced out of their homes. The two boys that caused this nightmare was way off the designated trails in Chimney Tops and got away with it all. Many people still hasn’t fully recovered
I’ve been in that house many times before it burned. When I was a kid my cousin was the house sitter for the owners and we’d have family parties there, and when I was older my mom’s boss bought it. Beautiful place before the fires. It was built by a guy named John Ruple who was eventually busted for selling drugs. Shame the fires damaged it so much, but the view is still amazing.
I live about 45 mins from Gatlinburg. I was in Sevierville the day of the fires. The skies were orange and ash was flying everywhere. It was pretty scary and massive. Once i realized what was happening, i got out of there. The fire had practically made it’s way to Pigeon Forge by the wnd of the night.
You seem like you’re knowledgeable of TN so I reckon you live here, which makes it stranger that you say it was a natural disaster instead of the fire caused by two (probably) intoxicated teens. I’ve seen that house before on one of my trips to the aquarium but never went up there. I love in Townsend so I don’t get over that way much. Fun fact, Gatlinburg is slowly becoming more and more of a weed town than tourist town.
I live about 30-40 mins from Gatlinburg. Thank you for telling me what that building is. I would never go up there. I was in Pigeon Forge when the fire started. It is in the same county and connected to Gatlinburg. It was very eerie. The skuly slowly turned orange. Then, ash started hitting my car, and i went back home.
Lived in a small town very close to those fires and at the time and you could see the dark clouds of smoke cover the sky for miles! It was sad to see all that damage but amazing to see how kind the people of Tennessee are! Offering their homes, cars, food etc to neighbors in need. Even Starting a ride share group for workers and ppl without. ❤ Warms ya up a bit knowing these are your neighbors too.
I live in Tennessee I remember this fire it kept me up at night with an orange glow I had family in the mountains I kept thinking about them all night and every time I go to Gatlinburg Pigeon Forge or the mountains I see what’s left of the fire but know in 2023 it looks better than it did years ago this fire will always be in my heart and I will always remember it and the kids who caused it. I’m very sorry for the people that lost their family and house but I hope you all rebuilt or got a new house god bless you all.
I have to be emotional because Sevierville/Pigeon Forge is my American hometown as I first moved there from Korea 25 years ago. Eventually I moved to NY, and made a road trip in 2010 just to visit the old houses and church I used to live and attend. Then I visited Gatlinburg, and it was sooo nice atmosphere. I am now in TX. I wish it is restored, I will definitely go again.
Closer to 200 people died… a large portion of them were illegal aliens so they didn’t bother to count them. It was devastating. Close friends and coworkers lost their homes, their pets, some their lively hoods. I worked the winter after this happened at a popular tourist destination. The whole area was quiet and I was able to do prep by myself for a restaurant the typically did $10k lunches. It was awful.
Went up on New Year eve just after that. It was erie to see how the fire jumped around. One house burnt to the ground with the one next to it still stands. The hotel we were in was fine other than the odor, later moving us. A little stream running between us and another group of buildings that had fire damage. It even jumped whole mountain tops. Coming from Cherokee you could see were it started, then nothing. On down the road you’d find more. I didn’t realize how much a fire jump. They said this is why there was people that died. Caught them by surprise.
I live here.. In Sevierville and pigeon forge.. I remember that night well.. 😢. It’s was bad. U could see smoke miles away.and smell the burning wood.. you see the glow of the fire on the mountain… None stop fire trucks over 300+ from states and city’s away to come fight the fire. I watch for hours .😢
Hey now! I live on that mountain now. We moved here a year after the fires and still, to this day, you can see the burned trees😢. It’s seven years later and there are still burned buildings but most of them are now being rebuilt. It was such an awful tragedy. Someone on our property was trapped and died because they couldn’t get down the mountain. It is kinda scary because we live so high up, we look down on Ober (skiing), so I do get nervous during fire season.
Everyone that has lived in Gatlinburg for years knows that house has not been occupied for long before the fire. The house owner was busted for dealing drugs. That is saying it lightly it was a huge drug bust. They did have huge partys there back in the day. I was a teenager and went with friends and the house used to be so nice. Not sure why it was never sold after. Since the fire everyone has been working to rebuild if they can afford it.
I live close to that and see it from afar and seeing it up close like that is rather sad tbh. But hey, got a location y’all might wanna check out, it’s somewhere in the mountains on one of those backroads (I forget the name of the roads) called Ghost Town In The Sky, it’s a one way up, one way down location, but to avoid getting caught, you have to park your car in a public location and make the hike there to the dirt trail and hike it up, they have “cameras” but, from a friend, was told they are there to scare you since there is no electricity up there. The place still has all the rides and in one of the stores, still has the merchandise, it’s really cool if you wanna check it out-
I’m local but hate going down there…just a big tourist trap with terrible traffic. That being said, that fire was a huge deal. I came home from school and saw the whole ridge on fire. It looked like something out of a movie. Those kids got off light, but hopefully it spooked them enough into behaving better
When we had small logging railroads all over the country they would send out the forest so it wasn’t assholes belly button full of trees waiting to burn during the dry season they would also spray down the right away to prevent the track from catching fire in case it was a forest fire and all along the right away it would be soggy wet and that would help contain the fire. Now because of the tree-huggers all of those little railroads are out of business putting people out of work of course and now they have acres and acres of fire that waste all of that potential lumber that is so valuable asset. Of course if you are house is in a forest and the trees are right next to your house without a safety zone around your home and you have tar paper shingles on a woodroof you are just asking for your house to burn down.
And the reason it is abandond is some hedgefun owns it and trades it as it use to be. Its the reason people cant get homes for a reasonable price anymore. We need to make laws that homes can only be owned by a person who will live in it. No companies can buy homes to rent out or trade as a capital. If we outlawed rental homes housing pricing would drop significantly. Make it so only condos and apartments can be rentals.
Those vines are kudzu vines. Super invasive here and terrible for local native ecosystems. I believe that the lost of life could have been prevented had the local powers acted effectively-or at all- in containing the fires and warning people before it was too late. It was burning for DAYS before those wild winds came
Right after the fire, you could see how it came right down to the edge of Ripley’s property. I find it ridiculous you couldn’t just hike up the road, by the way. I’m surprised you didn’t get a few comments from locals who could clearly see 2 morons trailblazing up the side of that mountain…which is literally a subdivision.
Thats really strange. I live in Chattanooga, and my Wife and our Son went to Pigeon Forge/Gatlinburg to shop and spend some time away. They sent me a message just a bit ago, and this place was across the street, but in the background of the picture!! Sometimes you just have to guess, “What the Fu..??”. And go about your day…
I’ve lived in Gatlinburg for 33 years. That land is private property, not an abandoned house. So technically, you’re trespassing. As for the fire that consumed Gatlinburg, it wasn’t started by those 2 boys in Georgia. Park rangers in the gsmnp set a back fire to burn towards the fire. Wind blew the wrong way and the back fire, backfired and ran straight towards gatlinburg. So the cause of this fire is the blame of the park rangers, they just put it on those 2 boys, since the fire they were trying to stop was theirs. When you lived here as long as I have, you learn many of the dark secrets of this town and area. Like the 2 bodies that were hung up and body parts scattered along the bank of the river behind GPD. It wasn’t even in the news or papers, because it was a message from the Russian human trafficking to police in the area to back off. This was around 2 decades ago when Russians were mostly here with work visas.
I was there. More than 14 died. Undocumented immigrants also perished and were not reported. The city also let low income residential areas burn on purpose to make way for more tourism. I saw this with my own eyes. There was no emergency warning. We found out about the fire when we started seeing the smoke.
This was caused by two teens throwing matches on a trail. Not a natural event at all. Tennessee almost never has wild fires, much less to this degree. There’s still hundreds, if not thousands of burned out trees, & buildings throughout the park. Although the fire allowed for new life to begin, the damage caused will never be unseen. This place has grown beyond its small town charm it once had.
I remember that fire vividly. I live not far from that area, and the smoke from the fires almost blacked out the skies over here. It was horrifying. The damage was crazy. Obviously it was nowhere near what is considered a bad fire in California, but Tennessee isn’t built to deal with fires like that. We don’t have the infrastructure in place to deal with disasters like that.
I live in Tn and this was all over the news for weeks And at that time I was like I think in 7th graded and was homeschooled and a few weeks after the fire my family drove up and it was so heartbreaking because it was a war zone and it start by two teens that got away with it i don’t know why but still to this day I still have nightmares of the high winds outside my window and praying to god making sure everyone was safe and sound and next moring it happen the fire and I had classes online I was homeschooled and that was the hardest thing to do was school and worrying about the family and ppl who couldn’t get out and the stores I heard on the news for weeks
When the fire happened, I remember visiting my mother in Morristown, TN. The ashe coming down from that fire, made it look like it was snowing! The 2. Kids should of had to replant a new tree for everyone that got burnt in the fire they started! But instead all they learned was they could do terrible damage to the area and not have to pay any restitution for thier CRIME! Yes it was a crime!
I’m staying at the Vista up on the hill overlooking Gatlinburg right now. I’m facing the exact mountainside mentioned here and my 7 year-old has his telescope set up on the balcony. The last hotel I stayed in was in Myrtle Beach and the Chinese spy balloon drifted right over head and was shot down. My hotel stays are getting weird.
I participated in a musical competition my senior year in high school and ended up going from Sevierville to Maryville the day all of this started. We passed by mountains during the day that were burning, smoke pluming very high into the sky. When we got there, the air was a little smoky. When the competition was over and everyone was leaving, the air was so thick with smoke, we could hardly breathe. The final day of the fires, from my front yard, you could see the rolling mountains all the way in gatlinburg. It was getting dark and rain clouds were rolling in overhead. The fires were so massive, the red glow made the clouds glow red as well as if it were mirrors. Luckily for everyone, it rained enough that night to extinguish a large amount of the fires. The next day after all the smoke settled, there was a layer of ash covering everything outside. Cars, roofs, trees, grass, it was even noticeable on the roads. Definitely a very sad loss and with those days, holds memories I’ll never forget.
my family was in these fires. two kids set them. local officials were charging extra money for people to rebuild for NO REASON making people have to brandon their property. all of the 911 calls. ALL OF THEM. were “accidently deleted”. keep in mind there were 43 active fires that night. law officials laughed at my mom when she asked if we needed to evacuate, three hours later we were running down our mountain without shoes leaving our animals behind because we apparently “got our news from facebook”. shit was wild my mom brother and i all have diagnosed ptsd from it. anyways that’s my rant LOL don’t trust small town officials
Fun fact the fire started by kids messing with fire and your probably wondering did they get in trouble no they didn’t I live in TN and that fire was devastating and was horrific to drive through we had no other choice but to drive though it and we almost didn’t even make it but. A fire truck was passing by and told us to get in you might not believe me but I have the pictures