At least three people have died after ravaging wildfires in the US state of Tennessee that threatened the popular Great Smoky Mountain National Park and led to the evacuation of thousands of residents and tourists, officials said Tuesday, according to dpa. Sevier County Mayor Larry Waters called the fatalities "devastating news" at an afternoon press conference. Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam said the conflagration was the largest such fire in the state in the last century. Gatlinburg Fire Department Chief Greg Miller agreed that it was an historic fire but said that the worst was over. As 400 fire personnel continued to put down the blaze, Miller said that high winds continued to pose the biggest danger. According to local authorities, 14,000 people were evacuated from the town of Gatlinburg and the neighbouring resort town of Pigeon Forge. Three people suffered severe burn injuries, according to officials, and local media reported more than 100 buildings, primarily cabins in the park, destroyed in the blaze. The flames were approaching the famous Ripley Aquarium in Gatlinburg, which contains more than 10,000 animals. The aquarium staff had to leave the facility, but the operators say that as long as the generators function there should be no problem. Operators of the national park wrote on Facebook that the weather conditions had exacerbated the fire. There had been no rain in the area for some time, and the blaze was fuelled by the wind in the extreme drought conditions Rescuers were hopeful that rain forecast for late Tuesday would bring some relief.
