Terrifying dashcam video captures dramatic escape from Tennessee wildfires as flaming debris showers their car
The fire is believed to have wiped out an entire resort of more than 100 buildings
TERRIFYING video footage has captured the moment a car escapes through burning forest in Gatlinburg, Tennessee, where raging wildfires fuelled by high winds have forced thousands to evacuate.
The heart-stopping clip, posted by Michael Luciano on Facebook, shows the car edging down a narrow road surrounded by huge burning trees.
In the video, which Michael captioned, "We almost didn't make it out alive!! But we did", the people in the car are attempting to escape through Chalet Village, a popular rental cabin destination in Gatlinburg.
Opening the video, he says: ""We just got stuck, we're turning around, there's power lines and trees blocking the road. We cannot get out."
The air is thick with smoke and tinted with an ominous orange glow - meaning the driver's visibility is almost non-existent as the car drives past burning cabins, shaking as it hurtles over fallen debris.
As the fire seems to become even more intense, and the journey even more of a struggle, Michael says: "They're not even trying to put this s*** out. Not one warning, nothing.
"Not one single warning on the news. And you're telling me nobody knew that almost every cabin in Chalet Village is burning?"
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At the end of the video, chillingly, the car becomes stuck as it is unable to make it through a ditch.
However, additional footage posted to Michael's Facebook page confirms they made it out.
The fire is believed to have wiped out an entire resort of more than 100 buildings in the Great Smoky Mountains as National Guard troops arrived early Tuesday to help overwhelmed firefighters.
Rain has begun to fall in some areas, but experts have predicted it will not be enough to end the relentless drought that has spread across several Southern states - providing fuel for fires across Tennessee, Georgia and North Carolina.
Earlier today, representatives from Dolly Parton's theme park, Dollywood, confirmed the fire had led to its evacuation - but later added while the theme park hasn't been damaged by wildfires, more than a dozen cabins operated by the park have been damaged or destroyed.
Emergency officials ordered evacuations in downtown Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge and in other areas of Sevier County near the Great Smoky Mountains.
No deaths have been reported, but several people have been hospitalised with burns.