I hope anyone living or working in this area is safe. From everything I have seen it's a horrible situation. This area has always been one of our favorite places to go.

Was there less than two weeks ago, and we had air quality alerts then from the smoke. I cannot imagine how it must be now. So tragic.

How did this fire start? was it on the national forest? Agree sad deal. We have been in a drought for almost 13yrs, its horrible.

The pics are so terrible. Prayers for everyone who lives and works in the area. It's going to be a long road ahead. Fires are so devastating.

My prayers for all of those in the area!! We've had devastating wildfires in our area so we know very well how difficult these tragedies can be.

It was arson. They've arrested the jerks who did this.

No! Why?!

Hopefully they'll also charge them with murder since three people (at least) have died.

I never understood the reason for arson. Theft I get, harming another is usually a crime of passion of some sort, but arson gains no one anything. I bet they get charged with manslaughter or 3rd degree murder of some sort.

I haven't heard about this. I thought it was wildfires. From the AP:

"The Gatlinburg area wildfires spread when winds blew trees onto power lines, sparking new fires and shooting embers over long distances. Hundreds of homes and other buildings, including a 16-story hotel, were damaged or destroyed."
News article

Were the wildfires started by arson?

per some news reports, the wildfires were started by arson. They posted the pictures of the 2 guys they arrested.

The arsonists arrested that I know about (and have been shared on Facebook) set fires in Sequatchie county and northwest GA/Lookout Mountain area. Those fires were about 2-3 weeks ago here around Chattanooga. They haven't 100% identified the cause of the Gatlinburg fire. There was an existing 5-10 acre fire on Chimney tops that had been burning for a week or so. Rumor was that one was arson. Speculation is that embers from the Chimney Tops fire and sparks from power lines downed by the high winds on Monday created a monster.....a 5-10 acre fire grew to over 500 acres in 15 minutes.

We have gotten rain in the area, but the storms last night spawned some tornados here in SE TN (Chattanooga area). I haven't heard yet if any tornadic activity hit the Gatlinburg area. The tornadic activity here went as far north as Athens, which is about 30 minutes from me, an hour away from Gatlinburg.

agreed, the two guys were a different fire - sorry about that. They have arrested numerous folks for burning brush when there is a burning ban on. so many fires.....

www.heavy.com/news/2016/11/gatlinburg-te...-arrest-origin/

I had to view the cached link as the article link is blocked at work. They haven't arrested anyone in connection with the Gatlinburg fire yet.

It is very sad. We had a small one about a mile from work a few weeks ago that was caused by a moron throwing a cigarette butt out of their window.

What the heck is wrong with people these days? So so tragic and preventable. Such selfishness abounds today. Keeping everyone in my prayers. We have had our share of devastating wildfires, our biggest one was an idiot as well. If they started a fire and people expire I think it's murder plain and simple.

I watched a video of a couple trying to find a way down a mountain area in a firestorm. Then the video panned some road and all I could see was the sign for one of our branches ---- no building! EEK!

The Party Rock fire in North Carolina abutted the area where my retirement home is located. I was worried for several days, but volunteer firemen (bless their hearts) controlled the burn all the way around the neighborhood. The Gatlinburg videos show just how bad things could have gotten; my fears were inadequate.

Agreed. Fecking morons.

There are 11 confirmed fatalities now. 2 of them were the missing couple from Memphis whose 3 adult sons are at Vanderbilt with burns and lung injuries. It's so sad.

So sad, praying for those who lost loved ones.

I feel so bad for the one man I've seen a few times on TV. He was on the phone with his wife and she said the fire was coming. He hasn't seen his wife or two daughters since. Heartbreaking.

Super sad. My thoughts and prayers are with all those affected during this difficult time.