Believe it or don’t but I was a major subcontractor on that hotel. I fabricated and installed all the glass and aluminum forming the exterior sheath.
I looked at the website for the Park Vista hotel and noted the addition of a large heavy timber porte cochre. That is what burned. The building is a cylinder, hollow in the center. It is all concrete so there is little to burn in the actual building. There were photos taken of fire thru the main entrance from inside out.
There are reports of buildings, especially at Arrowmont, downtown gatlinburg destroyed.
The fires are spread over considerable area. I suspect ISIS set the fires as they did in Israel
A few of the fires are from downed power lines due to the high winds.
I do not think any of the hotel burned at all, including the porte cochre.
According to the two eyewitnesses WATE interviewed in the hotel around 1:00 AM, the closest the fires came were on the OTHER side of the parking lot from the hotel itself. By the time of the interview they said the fires had retreated a bit but were still waiting for the road out to be cleared.
http://wate.com/2016/11/28/video-chef-at-gatlinburg-park-vista-hotel-live-on-facebook-from-fire/
If they are catching on to that tactic, California had better brace itself when the Santa Ana winds start blowing in the fall.
I'm betting you're correct. I lived in TN for 13 years. Got two college diplomas there. If Tennesseans realize their liberal immigration policy is killing them, they will make a difference.