Wildfires in Tennessee's Great Smoky Mountains destroyed cabins near Dolly Parton's Dollywood amusement park and spurred evacuations at Dollywood's DreamMore Resort in Pigeon Forge while causing an amusement park in Gatlinburg to shut down.
More than a dozen of Dollywood's Smoky Mountain Cabins were either destroyed or damaged, while families in 50 rooms at the DreamMore Resort were evacuated, Dollywood representatives said Tuesday morning. The theme park wasn't damaged.
Ober Gatlinburg Ski Area and Amusement Park, which is about 15 miles south of Dollywood, will be closed today and Wednesday because of the wildfires, which forced evacuations of more than 14,000 residents and visitors, according to the state's emergency management agency. Incorrect reports surfaced earlier saying that the resort had been destroyed by the fires, which have been worsened by a combination of high winds and drought conditions.
Three people with "severe" burns have been treated at Nashville's Vanderbilt Medical Center.