UPDATE at 7 p.m. ET, March 18, 2013:
The fire is contained, thanks in part to some rain on Monday. Most of the firefighters have been released. The number of structures burned has been raised to 50. Below is a video from Knoxville’s WATE broadcast early Monday morning:
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Originally published at 10 a.m. Monday at 10 a.m. ET
A fire in eastern Tennessee has burned hundreds of acres and approximately 35 large rental structures in Pigeon Forge between Gatlinburg and Knoxville. In what looks like a carbon copy of Saturday’s fire in Horry County, South Carolina, the fire began in a structure and then spread to the vegetation, eventually igniting dozens of large rental cabins. In photos, the structures appear to have multiple guest units. Black Hawk helicopters from the Tennessee National Guard assisted firefighters by dropping water dipped out of Douglas Lake and other sources.
Estimates on the size of the fire, which is burning outside Great Smoky Mountains National Park, range from 145 to 300 acres.
Thanks go out to Bill and Dick
