Fires turn North Carolina getaway into ghost town

LAKE LURE, N.C. — Don Cason had his 125-year-old inn in the western North Carolina mountains booked solid for Veterans Day weekend, rooms full and restaurant reservations lined up.

For about a week now, Chimney Rock, part of the Lake Lure area outside Asheville, has been virtually deserted in a smoky haze as dozens of wildfires burn an estimated 190 square miles across the Southeast.

The shroud of smoke has hit the tourism economy — which thrives during the fall season in much of the affected area.

On a positive note, nothing in the Lake Lure area has been burned down or damaged by the fires, said Cason, who serves as Rutherford County’s top tourism official.

The area’s unique draw for the film industry is better connected with “Dirty Dancing,” which was filmed in Lake Lure.