Structure Fire in Downtown Gatlinburg Affects Several Local Businesses
We’ve seen this too often in the area, and it’s never a good thing to distribute news of a fire in Gatlinburg. This one, though, doesn’t appear to have anything to do with nature. It’s still a very unfortunate and extremely sad day for dozens of workers and many more visitors.
The building that houses Puckers Sports Bar, Cafe 420, Gifts of Gatlinburg, and the China Bazaar has been severely damaged by a fire that started early this morning, and at the time of this writing is still being fought by crews to keep it contained. Thankfully, there are no injuries being reported, since no doubt the time of the fire played a big role in no one being inside.
For those of you who are here now, the Parkway has been shut down from light #6 at the Mountain Mall to light #8 at Historic Nature Trail Road. This has resulted in the trolley service being suspended for the day, in addition to all the other businesses on that stretch.
If you are traveling in the area, while it’s not advised, motorists can still access River Road and Cherokee Orchard Road. Visitors going into the National Park can take the Gatlinburg Bypass to avoid the downtown altogether.
Obviously, much more information will filter in from the news services. Please try not to gather information from people who haven’t confirmed anything from official sources. My information has come straight from Knoxville television stations, specifically WVLT, which has Kyle Grainger, a trusted Smoky Mountain reporter.
I will be sure to do the proper updating on this post if it becomes necessary. My sincere thoughts and best wishes go to those that are directly affected by this tremendous loss.
While most of these places are personal to me I’m a bit saddened by this as the China Bazaar actually holds a bit of sentimental value for me. I remember shopping in this place as a teenager thirty years ago. Of course my heart does go out as well to the owners and employees who work here and I do hope these businesses return swiftly!
I also hope the rock walls can be reused as with each passing year Gatlinburg is losing not only it’s long time business that some of us have known for decades are she’s also losing the architecture that made Gatlinburg so special and unique.