In a state Hillary would have still won even if you subtracted 3 million votes...

You should have seen the comments on NPR’s Facebook page. More than 50% were blaming the people who live in Tennessee for this, for voting for Trump. As if every single American hasn’t contributed in some form to climate change with their lifestyle (short of people living off the land!). It was disgusting.

Here’s a good list from a local station that they’ve been updating, as far as what has been affected. http://www.wbir.com/news/local/gatlinburg-fires-whats-damaged-destroyed-and-intact/357891924

I moved here from Central California, and in Knoxville is SO much more liberal than the ag community I lived in there. And technically that California town was larger, but Knoxville has the whole metro area, a real college (or really, a few colleges) and all the scientists out at Oak Ridge. Knoxville voted blue -…

I’m glad you’re finally covering this. But please, anyone who wants to say that the people here deserved it because they voted for Trump, or don’t believe in climate change. Just don’t. There are still many people missing, and the toll is now up to four fatalities. Even if you think they may not share your politics,…

It’s actually the MOST visited national park in the country. So it is major, and it’s not like all these people whose homes burned down are rich. Many are hospitality workers. I’ve been dismayed at the attitude of some liberals saying the folks there deserve it for voting for Trump (because climate change, I guess).…

Yep - I said something on a Kardashian post yesterday afternoon...can’t believe it took this long! Not that this is the best outlet for such news.

And the people who live there, many of them are working hospitality jobs that don’t pay all that well. It’s going to be rough, but all the communities nearby are really rallying. The outpouring of support has been amazing (I live nearby) and will no doubt continue until it’s all rebuilt.

It was arsonists, as far as we know. So not even fire safety, so much as terrible human beings.

Though some are managing to politicize it already and link it to the elections. The comments on NPR’s Facebook page’s article about the fires are all, “This is what you get when you deny climate change and vote for Trump.” Not the time and place, people. Let’s be human and show compassion for people regardless of…

I just checked out a list of what’s been affected - and several places originally reported destroyed were either not damaged or only slightly damaged, so that’s good news. Seventy homes in one neighborhood did burn down completely. http://www.wbir.com/news/local/gatlinburg-fires-whats-damaged-destroyed-and-intact/35789…

Yes, everyone was on the edge of their seats about the aquarium. I just looked at a list of the losses, and they’re not as bad as initially reported. Though at least 70 homes were totally burned down, many of the businesses that had been reported destroyed were not.

Good. For some reason a lot of other people weren’t seeing that kind of coverage.

The irony is, I moved here from a town of about 190,000 in Central California. There’s more to do, more culture, more amenities and more liberals (and hippies, LOL) here in Knoxville than there was in that very red county/town in California. People need to get out of their bubbles and stop stereotyping.

Also, Jez did cover the bus crash in Chattanooga that killed five children last week. That’s just a couple of hours away from this fire, so I thought they might cover this, as well. It (hopefully) won’t have as much loss of life, but it’s going to have a major impact on the area. There are, however, people missing at…

And labeling an entire region as BAD is stupid - I see it here ALL the time. There’s plenty of good people and good things in the South. If it’s politics, then let’s talk about how all the major cities in Tennessee went blue in the election, as they normally do. But if it’s a natural disaster, let’s just talk about…

We’ve been positively spoiled living this close to such a beautiful area - and I’ve already had one person dismiss it as just a “Pretty place.” Uh, no, it’s home to thousands of people. These aren’t the unpopulated mountains in the middle of California, it’s a very important area to the entire region’s economy AND…

Yeah, I know. And when studies are done on how news is covered, it’s heavily on the East and West Coasts, and Texas. I wonder why huge chunks of America didn’t realize that other huge chunks were feeling the way that they did until after the election? As a former journalist, I’m dismayed at the disproportionate…

I hate how he overshadows more important news.

I hope they are OK, from what I know, the aquarium is fine, so I hope their store is fine. We love Gatlinburg, and will continue to support it as much as possible to help it rebuild.