PIGEON FORGE, Tenn. (WATE) — What used to be three rental cabins side by side is now completely gone and turned into rubble after an overnight fire in Pigeon Forge. An investigation is continuing into what caused the flames.
Around 1 a.m. Tuesday, Sevier County Central Dispatch received a call reporting a structure fire in the 2100 block of Windy Lane in the Upper Middle Creek area of Sevier County. The fire quickly spread to two other homes.
Isabella Sanchez is from Ohio and is staying in a cabin close by with family and friends.
“We heard a big boom. It kind of sounded like rocks were falling. We weren’t sure exactly what happened and then suddenly the sky just turned red,” she said.
According to Pigeon Forge Fire Department’s Deputy Fire Chief Charles Powers, those big booms could have been from propane tanks. When his crews got to the scene one home was fully engulfed and the one next to it was also on fire.
“There were propane tanks between the cabins and while our firefighters were on the scene, they said the propane tanks did explode which did contribute to the fire spread,” Powers explained.
“We saw every emergency vehicle they had going, we saw them all pass by. It was very close. For a minute we didn’t see anything because the fog was so dense. We could definitely see that it was all red and the sky was very orange,” said Sanchez.
She added that it was hard to sleep last night. They were watching fire crews work throughout the night and were concerned the fire could spread to their cabin.
“We did not go to bed until we could see that the sky was no longer red and just because we were so worried about everyone involved,” Sanchez stated.
Powers said the closest fire hydrant was about half a mile away. So they had to use tanker shuttles to haul water to the fire. The current weather conditions helped the fire not to spread any further.
“The rain lately actually probably helped a little bit just because the walker trail and that area can get really dry from brush fires and stuff. So we didn’t really have to worry about brush fires because of the rain we’ve had recently,” he said.
No injuries were reported and the fire is under investigation.