3 reported dead as wildfires rage in southeastern US

WASHINGTON: Three people have reportedly died in the US southeast as wildfi res bore down Tuesday on a mountainous tourist region home to a theme park founded by country music legend Dolly Parton.

The fires, located in the eastern part of Tennessee, have damaged or destroyed hundreds of structures and caused thousands of evacuations, the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency ( TEMA) reported.

Not only are the fires threatening Parton’s Dollywood, but they have also blazed through parts of the tourist hamlet of Gatlinburg, one of the gateways to the area’s Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Officials in Sevier County, in which Gatlinburg and Dollywood are located, told reporters Tuesday that three people had died, according to multiple US media.

The fires have been fanned by high winds and fueled by parched vegetation after the worst drought in nearly a decade. Wind speeds topping 110 kilometres per hour were reported in some parts of the state. Hundreds of fi refighters have descended on Gatlinburg and TEMA estimated that more than 14,000 residents and visitors had been evacuated from the city alone.

Three people with severe burns and a fourth with burns to the face had been transferred to hospitals, it said, although it was unclear if any of these were among the fatalities. More than 100 structures were damaged in the city, while more than 150 were damaged or destroyed in Sevier County, according to officials cited by CNN.

The Great Smoky Mountains, the most visited national park in US, said Tuesday it had “closed all facilities in the park due the extensive fire activity and downed trees,” and that park headquarters were without power and phone services. — AFP