Wildfires have forced the evacuation of thousands of residents of Tennessee, lees than one week after fires in Israel forced the evacuation of tens of thousands of residents of Haifa.
Evacuation orders were issued for the towns Gatlinburg, Mynatt Park, Park Vista, Ski Mountain and Pigeon Forge, and a level 3 State of Emergency was declared. The National Guard was called to deal with the evacuations and the wildfires, which also threatened the Dollywood resort and amusement park.
Gatlinburg Fire Chief Greg Miller said at a press conference Monday night: "We urge the public to pray. We urge the public to stay off the highways. The traffic that is on the roads is emergency equipment. If (the public) could just stay home and stay tuned to their local media outlet."
Great Smoky Mountains National Park Superintendent Cassius Cash called the fires raging across the state "unprecedented."
The company Global Super Tanker sent its Boeing 747 Supertanker to Israel last week at the request of Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu to help Israel fight the fires which forced 85,000 people from their homes in Haifa. In addition, dozens of American firefighters voluntarily came to Israel to help local firefighting authorities battle the blazes.
The weather in the affected parts of Tennessee is dry and windy, which is similar to the weather conditions which contributed to the spread of the fires in Israel last week.