Devastating Tennessee wildfires in two resort towns have left at least three people dead after the blazes fueled by high-speed winds ripped through Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge destroying more than 100 homes, hotels and businesses, and leaving the areas resembling an ‘apocalypse’.

Aerial pictures reveal the true scale of the devastation after homes were reduced to smoldering piles of rubble by the blaze.

Sevier County Mayor Larry Waters said at an afternoon news conference on Tuesday that authorities found at least three people dead.

‘We do not have further information on them at this time,’ Waters said. ‘We are continuing to notify next of kin.’

Gatlinburg Fire Chief Greg Miller told reporters it’s unclear if there are more people who died in the raging wildfires, as they ‘have not been able to get into all the areas.’

‘This is one for the history books,’ Miller said at a morning news conference. ‘The likes of this has never been seen. But the worst is definitely over with.’

Miller said 12 people were injured, most with non-life-threatening injuries.Three people who suffered burns while trying to flee have been transferred from a Knoxville hospital to Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, which has a burn unit.

A fourth person is being treated for facial burns in Knoxville.

Grim photos show the destroyed homes, buildings and schools in Gatlinburg after thousands were forced to flee the resort town due to the wildfire that had threatened to burn down the famous Dollywood theme park.

    

    

Thousands of residents and visitors in the Gatlinburg area were evacuated from the Great Smoky Mountains, and hundreds of structures have been damaged and destroyed by the fire which is the worse to hit the area in decades.

‘The center of Gatlinburg looks good for now,’ Newmansville Volunteer Fire Department Lt. Bobby Balding told the Knoxville News Sentinel on Tuesday. ‘It’s the apocalypse on both sides (of downtown).’

Gatlinburg mayor Mike Werner said Tuesday that half of the city was impacted by the blaze, but the downtown area is intact and that they will rebuild the area.

Miller said the fire spread Monday night by winds that at times exceeded 87 miles per hour.

He added that about 14 buildings were still burning in the city earlier Tuesday, as most of them are smoldering.

Officials say about 14,000 residents and visitors were evacuated from Gatlinburg alone, and portions of Dollywood have been evacuated as wind speeds top 70 miles per hour in some parts of Tennessee, which has been hit by the worst drought in nearly a decade.


Comment: Winter drought forecast for much of United States

More than a dozen cabins operated by the park have been damaged or destroyed in the blaze. Resort staff evacuated families staying in 50 rooms at Dollywood’s DreamMore Resort and in 19 of Dollywood’s Smoky Mountain Cabins.

In a statement released Tuesday by her publicists, Dolly Parton said she’s been watching the ‘terrible fires’ in the Great Smoky Mountains.

‘I am praying for all the families affected by the fire and the firefighters who are working so hard to keep everyone safe,’ she said.

‘It is a blessing that my Dollywood theme park, the DreamMore Resort and so many businesses in Pigeon Forge have been spared.’

Dollywood has suspended park operations at least through Wednesday, but DreamMore will be open on a limited basis as a shelter and for registered guests.

Parton is scheduled to appear on NBC’s ‘The Voice’ on Tuesday night, her representatives had previously announced.

The Tennessee Emergency Management Agency (TEMA) says hundreds of firefighters as well as local and state personnel and National Guard troops have been sent in to help fight the blaze and check on people.

TEMA estimates that more than 150 homes and structures have also been destroyed or damaged by flames, as they say there is ‘little hope’ for relief anytime soon.

    

Gatlinburg is a small mountain town where people can enter the 520,000 acre Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

TEMA reported that the Ober Gatlinburg amusement park and ski area is fine after the agency previously received reports that the facility was likely destroyed.

Preliminary surveys indicate that the fires have wiped out the more than 100 buildings of the Westgate Smoky Mountain Resort & Spa, as well as a 16-story hotel. In addition, Black Bear Falls was believed to have lost every cabin.

Officials with the Ripley’s Aquarium of the Smokies say they have a team of biologists inside the facility and that all of the 10,000 fish and other animals are safe.

Aquarium officials say police escorted an ’emergency team’ back into the facility to check on the animals Tuesday.

The aquarium will remain closed until the evacuation orders are lifted. Officials say more than 2 million people visit the aquarium each year.

TEMA said schools in Green, McMinn and Sevier counties will be closed Tuesday, and more than 12,000 people in Sevier County were without power as of early Tuesday morning.

Storms approaching the the nearly 28,000-acre Rough Ridge Fire in north Georgia and the nearly 25,000-acre Rock Mountain Fire burning on both sides of the Georgia-North Carolina line have signaled some hope for firefighters who are trying to put the blaze out Tuesday.

DROUGHT AND WIND: THE CAUSES OF THE TENNESSEE WILDFIRE

It is believed that a small fire started on purpose in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park at the weekend may have been the trigger for the huge blazes.

The fire easily spread due to weeks of punishing drought in the South along with unseasonably warm temperatures.

Rainfall has also been between 10 to 15 inches below normal over the past three months, leading to a dry and arid landscape.

Meanwhile gusting winds have also allowed the fire to spread rapidly from the national park and into built up towns such as Gatlinburg.

But firefighters trying to tackle the flames hope a change in weather conditions will help their cause.

Forecasters say the area is due to be hit by a strong storm system, bringing with it much needed rain.

However, high winds coming with the storms could cause many dead trees and branches to fall in the burning forests, which could pose a threat to firefighters.

Blackhawk helicopters from the McGhee-Tyson airbase have flown to Gatlinburg to conduct water airdrops on Tuesday.

Officials say there are about 1,200 people sheltering at the Gatlinburg Community Center and the Rocky Top Sports Park.

Several other shelters have opened to house those forced from their homes. TV broadcasts showed residents streaming out of town just as rain started to wet roads.

On Monday just after 6pm, motorists clogged the roads after the Gatlinburg Fire Department ordered the mandatory evacuation of the town.

Strong wind conditions fanned the flames and embers across long distances, which started smaller fires that quickly spread through the drought-stricken trees. The winds also caused power lines to fall, which started new fires, authorities said.

‘Everything was like a perfect storm,’ said Cassius Cash, superintendent of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, to CNN affiliate WATE.

Terrifying video shot from the Gatlinburg Park Vista Hilton Hotel on Monday appeared to show flames just outside the windows, as guests huddled together inside.

Witnesses reported that dozens of people were trapped inside the hotel which was surrounded by flames, but it’s unclear if people are still trapped inside as of Tuesday morning.

Hotel guest Logan Baker, who is staying at the Hilton with his family, said that the 16-story building began filling with smoke as fire came up and into the parking lot on Monday.

‘The only road to get down from the hotel, trees had fallen down in the road and were just engulfed in flames,’ he told WATE, in a phone call from the hotel on Monday. ‘Then the flames came up into the parking lot and then told us we all had stay inside.’

Baker said it was difficult to breathe as smoke and embers came into the hotel through faulty emergency doors.

Eventually firefighters were able to barricade the doors as guests opened out the top floor windows to let the smoke escape. It’s unclear if guests have been able to leave the hotel as of Tuesday.

A nearby apartment complex was also completely engulfed by flames, authorities report.

The Gatlinburg building inspector also told Local News 8 that an elementary school and a college were also destroyed by the fire.

Pi Beta Phi Elementary School has not been destroyed, despite earlier reports from officials.