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PIGEON FORGE, Tenn. — The wildfire season is off to an early and dangerous start.
The town of Pigeon Forge, Tenn. is dealing with a massive fire.
The National Guard will fly in two helicopters Monday to help battle the flames.
People have been forced to leave their homes and more than 30 rental cabins have already been destroyed.
From the air the scale of the wildfire was visible with house after house up in flames.
Pigeon Forge is near the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
Sunday's fast-moving fire caught both visitors and locals off-guard.
"I just don't know if it's any of our property or not. Some of our friends live up that way and I was just concerned about them," said property owner Patricia Gaylon.
There is also concern for those on the front lines.
"I've been sending him text messages and telling him that I love him. I want them all to come home safe," said Mandie Wylhite, wife of a firefighter.
So far, more than 200 acres burned and 150 people evacuated.
It's a huge fire. A large amount of resources are up here. It's been rough. It's been the roughest I've ever seen it. These houses are put close together, and the first portion of this started out as a house fire. It led to several just next to it just catching on fire," said Pigeon Forge Fire Chief Tony Watson.
On Saturday, some of the same firefighters battled a much smaller brush fire at the nearby Dollywood theme park.
Across the country, more wildfires were reported.
In Florida on Sunday, smoke from a forest fire mixed with fog to cause numerous traffic accidents on Interstate 95.
Saturday in South Carolina, a brush fire destroyed more than two dozen buildings including a house complex displacing more than 180 people.
And in Colorado on Friday, fierce winds helped fuel a wildfire at a state park near Fort Collins forcing hundreds of evacuations.
WSOC
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