Death toll rises to 7 in eastern Tennessee wildfires

A destroyed home in Gatlinburg, Tennessee.
(Image credit: Brian Blanco/Getty Images)

Authorities in Tennessee confirmed Wednesday that at least seven people have been killed in the wildfires that have swept through Sevier County.

More than 700 homes and businesses have been destroyed, and the fire has likely burned at least 15,000 acres in the Great Smoky Mountains, The Tennessean reports. Investigators believe the fire was caused by embers from a wildfire in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park blowing into Gatlinburg on Monday night. High winds have helped fan the flames, and heavy rains have created "new challenges," Gatlinburg Fire Chief Greg Miller said. "There's no longer that foliage holding everything together, so we're experiencing small rockslides and mudslides as we have to go back into areas we previously thought were accessible."

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up
To continue reading this article...
Continue reading this article and get limited website access each month.
Get unlimited website access, exclusive newsletters plus much more.
Cancel or pause at any time.
Already a subscriber to The Week?
Not sure which email you used for your subscription? Contact us
Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia is night editor for TheWeek.com. Her writing and reporting has appeared in Entertainment Weekly and EW.com, The New York Times, The Book of Jezebel, and other publications. A Southern California native, Catherine is a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.