Gatlinburg welcomes visitors back after wildfire

GATLINBURG, Tenn. — Eleven days after a deadly storm of wind and flame descended upon Sevier County from the Great Smoky Mountains, the nation's most visited national park reopened Friday alongside the city of Gatlinburg.

The dining room at the Pancake Pantry, a downtown landmark that typically has lines out the door, was about 40% full by 7:30 a.m. Friday, just half an hour after the city reopened to the public.

"We were staying in Pigeon Forge and we wanted to come in, and we at at the Pancake Pantry," said Jerry Johnson, who arrived with his wife, Sue Lynn, on Wednesday from Kingston, Tenn. "I've been coming here my whole life and I have never seen it this quiet."

Cars started trickling into Gatlinburg just before the sun rose Friday, including a parade of visitors, delivery trucks and workers headed to the tourist city's candy shops and pancake houses. The main business corridor downtown was largely spared from the fires that blew into town from the nearby Great Smoky Mountains National Park on Nov. 28, killing 14 people, injuring an additional 176.

Tenn. fire victims loved Smoky Mountains, son says

On Thursday evening, officials said in a joint news release the assessment of structural damage to homes and businesses was complete: 2,460 total buildings damaged or destroyed — 1,137 in Gatlinburg, 18 in Pigeon Forge and 1,305 in other parts of Sevier County.

Friday, at Kilwin's chocolate, fudge and ice cream shop on the main drag, an employee painted the ceiling with the hopes of reopening the shop by the afternoon. The shop had to throw out all of the chocolates and fudges, weighing all of it to file an insurance claim, said Shana Laws, a supervisor.

Though the business didn't sustain any damage from the fire, the whole building smelled of smoke, she said. Employees came in to clean out all the shelving and furniture and repaint all the walls and ceiling.

"We threw everything away," she said. "We had to take everything off the shelves, throw it away and cleaned them all. It'll basically be a brand-new store, starting from scratch."

Inside the Pancake Pantry, servers chatted with guests about the yellow haze that sat over the restaurant last week and the damage the fire had done to their own homes and those of friends and family. The restaurant's owner, James Gerding, lost his home and vehicles, and one employee who had rented an apartment nearby lost all he owned, said company President Garry Myers. The kitchen manager helped the employee find another place to live, he said.

Despite the devastation, the restaurant pushed to open its doors as soon as the city allowed. Employees came in on Monday to clean out the kitchen and toss all the expired food. The building never lost power, so the freezers and refrigerators saved a lot of the food. They returned Thursday to begin prepping new food and early Friday morning to mix the pancake batters, he said.

Newfound Gap Road, Little River Road, the Gatlinburg Bypass and the portion of U.S. Highway 441 known as the Spur were slated to reopen at 7 a.m., and park visitor centers at Sugarlands, Oconaluftee and Cades Cove will resume normal operating hours, according to a park news release. Cherokee Orchard Road will remain closed, as will hiking trails within the fire footprint.

The park asks that visitors refrain from entering burned areas on foot and reminds visitors that firefighters still are establishing containment lines to ensure the fire is extinguished.

Dolly lines up Reba, Kenny, others for wildfires telethon

Several upcoming park events have been postponed or canceled. The Festival of Christmas Past, scheduled for Saturday, has been canceled. The Hike 100 Centennial Challenge celebration, scheduled for Friday at the Gatlinburg Convention Center, has been postponed. The Holiday Homecoming at the Oconaluftee Mountain Farm will take place as planned on Dec. 17.

Many residents of the resort town still are without water, and those with water may find it cloudy or discolored from a lack of supply due to firefighting efforts, and damaged utilities, according to a joint news release. The water supply for downtown Gatlinburg is at full capacity, and that of East Gatlinburg was not affected.

The Sevier County fires came near the end of a disastrous year for fires in Tennessee, in which 1,427 blazes have spanned 44,027 acres to date. The severe and at times exceptional-level drought that has been in effect to some extent since April has turned the state, as well as the larger Southeast region, into a tinderbox. Although Gatlinburg received more than 3 inches of rain over the last week, the area remains nearly 14 inches below normal precipitation levels for the year, according to the National Weather Service in Morristown.

2 teens arrested in Tennessee wildfires, officials say

The recent rain has been "very beneficial" for the drought, but in the long term, "it's not going to make a difference" unless the state continues to receive slow, steady rainfall, said Jessica Winton, a weather service meteorologist.

Two teenagers have been arrested on charges of starting the fire that eventually grew to consume parts of Sevier County. The teens, whose names, ages and genders have not been released, remain in custody on aggravated arson charges, said Jimmy Dunn, 4th Judicial District attorney general. They await a detention hearing in Juvenile Court when bond could be set, and could be transferred to Criminal Court if prosecutors move to try them as adults.

The fire burned for days near the Chimney Tops trail inside the park until Nov. 28, when wind speeds approaching 90 mph spread embers from the then-500-acre blaze for miles. The hurricane-force winds downed power lines and felled trees, starting several new fires that raced through Gatlinburg and beyond.

To date, fighting the Chimney Tops fire has cost $5,916,962 and fighting the Cobbly Nob fire, $265,363, officials said.

Follow Travis Dorman and Megan Boehnkeon Twitter: @travdorman and @meganboehnke