A thick layer of smog and the ever present scent of smoke is what covers the town of Gatlinburg, TN, where wildfires have erupted this week. While hundreds of buildings recover from destruction, people continue to report missing amongst the blaze.

Local firefighters go without rest while searching the leveled structures and thick forest for survivors. Those battling the fires for the past 36 hours have yet to go home, sleeping on the ground outside of firetrucks and away from the danger.

“If it wasn’t for [firefighters] deciding to put their life on the line for a night, we wouldn’t have been able to get out there,” Gatlinburg resident Brandon Reece said in an interview with The Tennessean.

Firefighters from across the country, even as far as Alaska, have come out to assist the locals in their search for survivors. They also continue to ensure the safety of the community by fighting to drown out the fires which engulfed the thick Tennessee forests for days. Although the cause of the heated blaze is unknown, heavy wind is believed to have been a large factor.

“It was pretty intense — we had 40- to 60-mph winds on these mountaintops,” Fairbanks, AK firefighter Zane Brown said in an interview with Alaska Dispatch News. “When you have winds and fuels like that, there’s not much you can do; you just pull your people back to safe areas.”

Widespread relief efforts aid those suffering from the Gatlinburg wildfires, sending funds and necessities to the community in large quantities.

“Relief efforts like these are good because people are in a lot of stress when these events are happening,” freshman McKenna Kalisz said.

Although the fires have been put out, thick smoke still paints the sky in Gatlinburg. Even after the smoke clears, it is unlikely that life will ever return to normalcy for the small, Tennessee town.