Pigeon Forge Fire Smolders After Monday Rain

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><img alt="Pigeon Forge Fire Smolders After Monday Rain" src="http://cdn.inquisitr.com/wp-content/2013/03/pigeon-forge-fire-smolders.jpg" /><br /><br /><div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Pigeon Forge, TN – The forest fire that once stretched across 300 acres dwindled down to less than a single acre after a full day of around-the-clock efforts and an evening rain Monday. The fire damaged over 70 cabins at the Black Bear Ridge Resort and several private structures sprinkled throughout the heavily forested area not far from the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Sevier County Emergency Management Director John Matthews told <a class="external" href="http://www.wbir.com/news/article/260508/2/Fire-officials-still-enforcing-evacuation-orders-for-Pigeon-Forge-fire" style="color: #cc0000; outline: none; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank" title="Fire down to less than an acre, evacuation soon to be lifted">a local television station</a> that people who want to check on their property and try to recover their belongings may be allowed back into their cabins today. The badly damaged areas will remain closed. Families lost a range of items, from clothes to expensive electronics and priceless mementos, but fortunately there was no loss of life.</div><div style="background-color: white; float: left; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><div style="margin: 2px 10px 10px 0px;"><iframe allowtransparency="true" frameborder="0" height="410" hspace="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" name="adblade_ad_iframe" scrolling="no" src="http://web.adblade.com/impsc.php?cid=1818-1466442841&url=http%3A//www.inquisitr.com/579006/pigeon-forge-fire-smolders-after-monday-rain/&rnd=1363791769347&output=html" vspace="0" width="260"></iframe></div></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">The forest fire began as a house fire at around 4:00 pm on Sunday and peaked around 300 acres later that day. By Monday morning, crews had <a href="http://www.inquisitr.com/578384/pigeon-forge-fire-continues-to-burn-doubles-damage-in-east-tennessee/" style="color: #cc0000; outline: none; text-decoration: none;" title="http://www.inquisitr.com/578384/pigeon-forge-fire-continues-to-burn-doubles-damage-in-east-tennessee/">reduced the fire to half of its size</a>, but the fire continued to break through containment and <a href="http://www.inquisitr.com/577367/pigeon-forge-fire-decimates-resort-town-in-tennessee/" style="color: #cc0000; outline: none; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank" title="http://www.inquisitr.com/577367/pigeon-forge-fire-decimates-resort-town-in-tennessee/">work its way up the hill</a>. An evening rain arrived that reduced the fire to less than five acres. By Tuesday morning only a few scattered fires remained, consuming less than an acre.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Over 100 firefighters from up to 30 fire departments responded to the crisis from areas throughout East Tennessee. The Tennessee Army National Guard loaned two Black Hawk helicopters to the effort, which airlifted 60 loads of water from Douglas Lake to diminish the fire burning just outside Pigeon Forge. Only a few firefighters remained Tuesday morning to monitor the remains.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">A state of emergency was declared Monday and the American Red Cross opened an emergency shelter at the Pigeon Forge Community Center for residents displaced by the fire. Volunteers organized a command center at the local Calvary Baptist Church.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">The majority of the cabins affected were lost. 59 cabins were completely destroyed, and another 16 were damaged. Those whose properties remain intact will be escorted to try to retrieve their things. Law enforcement will still maintain a quarantine around the cabins burned by the fire due to safety concerns.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Pigeon Forge is a resort city with a population of around 6,000. The city is home to Dollywood, the popular tourist attraction co-owned by <a href="http://www.inquisitr.com/tag/dolly-parton/" style="color: #cc0000; outline: none; text-decoration: none;">Dolly Parton</a>, which was never threatened by the fire. The bulk of the <a href="http://www.inquisitr.com/577351/tennessee-wildfire-threatens-popular-tourist-destination/" style="color: #cc0000; outline: none; text-decoration: none;" title="Tennessee Wildfire Threatens Popular Tourist Destination">Pigeon Forge fire</a> took place in the heavily forested mountainous area outside of town.</div><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><br />Read more at <a href="http://www.inquisitr.com/579006/pigeon-forge-fire-smolders-after-monday-rain/#khjgGz2UOe2bbPKp.99" style="color: #003399; outline: none; text-decoration: none;">http://www.inquisitr.com/579006/pigeon-forge-fire-smolders-after-monday-rain/#khjgGz2UOe2bbPKp.99</a> </span></div>

Pigeon Forge Fire Pigeon Forge Fire Smolders After Monday Rain

Pigeon Forge, TN – The forest fire that once stretched across 300 acres dwindled down to less than a single acre after a full day of around-...

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