Dollywood evacuates guests from cabins and DreamMore resort as wildfires advance

At least it's pouring there now to help put the wildfires out. I think Dollywood is going to have to open their own Wildfire coaster since it got so close to the park. Right next to Fire Chaser!

One of my favorite attractions in the area is Mysterious Mansion. Yesterday morning, they announced on their Facebook that it was completely destroyed. The owners didn't see this with their own eyes though, because the area had been evacuated. They were relying on information given to them by others.

But then in the afternoon, they received info and a photo saying that the haunted house was still standing. It's a funny feeling going from one extreme to another. This fire has caused me a roller coaster of emotions.

I was worried about Dollywood, especially the eagles and the museum. I was also worried about the animals at Ripley's Aquarium. those have turned up safe and intact. I am relieved about those, but there is still a lot of damage to other areas and attractions, sadly. Even worse is the damage to the beautiful Smokey Mountains, and the displaced wildlife who live there.

If you have ever been there, then you know how grand the mountains are. You look into the distance, an you see an extremely large wooded mountain. You look at the horizon beyond that mountain, and you figure out that that isn't the horizon at all, but another, even higher mountain. It's difficult to tell if what is beyond that is another mountain, or the sky. It's amazing.

I wonder what it looks like now?

Do not judge the looks of a forest after a fire, wait two years and it will look better than you ever saw it before.

Not to wax too philosophical, but forest fires have always occupied a strange place in my brain (not literally).

They are absolutely necessary and lead to new opportunities for growth and are a completely natural outcome but they still cause a lot of damage and loss and possibly death in the meantime. On the one hand, the forest does become a more sustainable, vital, and vibrant place, but on the other hand, a lot of stuff has to die.

If I were a preacher ;), there'd be a sermon in there somewhere.

There is a tragic Cedar Point connection to this story. A 1995 employee (Ride Operator) who works in maintenance at Dollywood lost his home and may have lost his wife and two daughters to the fires. Not minimizing all of the tragedies, but that one hits particularly close to home.

Jscll said:

Do not judge the looks of a forest after a fire, wait two years and it will look better than you ever saw it before.

Wow! That doesn't only pertain to forest fires. That's like some fortune cookie shizzle right there. I don't know if you meant that to be words of wisdom, but thanks for sharing.