I was there. They never evacuated us. We opened the door to realize the fire was 100 yards from us burning the woods down

That is so awful.

You know I posted a few weeks ago when we were caught in our cabin up on Lookout Mountain and how we got out, but I never realized how fortunate we were and how thankful I was for the job the Forestry Service, the National Park Service and the local fire departments did until I saw that video...

Wow! It's like they were driving their SUV through the Gates of Hell.

sending everyone affected my prayers....

More on the two guys shooting the video...

http://www.knoxnews.com/story/news/2016/11/29/30-gatlinburg-structures-fire-tema/94584554/

Are/were you up there?

No I'm not up there, my mom has been emailing these to me, not sure where she found them - probably found them on twitter.

here's another from River Road

I wonder if Green briar restaurant is still there? It is on that end of town that was burning, I hope they can hold it off long enough for the next rain to hit tonight!!!

So is it still burning or did the rain put it out?

The report I read a couple of hours ago from the National Park Service said that fires were still burning and they anticipate them getting worse this afternoon. The rain was not enough to knock them down, and they are expecting low humidity and increasing winds this afternoon.

That video is hard to watch. Can't imagine being in the middle of all that not knowing if you are going to find a way out or not.

I have a couple of co-workers who both own timeshares in Westgate. It sounds like Westgate got hit pretty hard.

Yeah, I think Westgate is pretty much a total loss...obviously you can't see all the other buildings behind the main one, but the way the fire was moving down the mountain, I gotta think most everything behind this one probably burned too.

Some aerial video of the devastation...

http://wate.com/2016/11/29/video-aerial-video-of-gatlinburg-fire-damage/

I don't mean to sound insensitive here so I don't want to come across that way. But, I'm having a hard time finding out any answers as far as upcoming trips there. We were supposed to go Dec 17 - 20 and stay in the Gatlinburg Inn. Obviously they are saying that downtown is intact, but I'm doubtful they will have everything up and running by then. It's part of a graduation present for my woman, so I had hoped to get a feel for the situation as far as tourism goes so I can make alternate plans.

Has anyone heard anything from anyone who is planning on taking the trip up there in the next couple weeks?

I think your best bet would be to call the hotel directly and see what's going on....or potentially the Gatlinburg Tourism Bureau

I'll try the Tourism Bureau. It's not a big deal as far as the money. We can worry about that later on. I mean obviously they have bigger fish to fry. I hate it for them too. That place has a lot of good memories for me.

Might also try getting in touch with Sugarlands Visitor Center (Park Headquarters) for park-related info. Not sure if they're back open yet or not.

I'll do that too. I tried calling a few places but wasn't able to get through. I figured either no power or I wasn't the only one calling. I feel bad even calling about it right now given the circumstances.

I am going next Wednesday thru Friday. Going to Dollywood and do a little shopping. May just cruise through Gatlinburg if we can to see .. but will be mostly in Pigeon Forge.