The damage from the Great Gatlinburg Fire of 2016 is still being counted but many Gatlinburg businesses are closed only because much of the city is still largely shuttered due to safety concerns. Fear and a anxious public have caused a lot of rumors to be spread and this is an attempt to counter those mistruths. Almost all of the Gatlinburg businesses on the parkway were spared (although some in the Baskin’s Creek and Highway 321 areas certainly weren’t). The following Gatlinburg area businesses have been incorrectly reported as destroyed or very seriously damaged but they had no or VERY limited damage and will reopen today or as soon as Gatlinburg is opened again to the public:
- The Gatlinburg Ripley’s Aquarium
- The Park Vista Hotel
- Black Bear Falls Resort
- Pi Beta Phi Elementary
To my knowledge NO Pigeon Forge or Wears Valley businesses are closed. Although temporarily evacuated because the fires did get close, Dollywood and Dollywood’s DreamMore Resort reopened only a couple of days after the fire.
There has been no looting or vandalism – That’s just not Sevier County. We are open for business ourselves having setup a temporary location in Sevierville which will officially opened today. Gatlinburg will reopen very soon, and the rest of the community is already open for business!!