Under fire.

• Author: Martin, Edward
• Position: NCTREND: Western Region

Like bears on a binge, the 50 or so small businesses of Hickory Nut Gorge fatten up in the fall. The area, formed by nearly vertical cliffs that encompass Lake Lure, Chimney Rock and Bat Cave, "is a visitor-based economy, and the leaf season is the end of our annual business cycle," says Tommy Hartzog, executive director of the Chamber of Hickory Nut Gorge. "Most gather in that last bit of cash flow to tide them over until spring." However, for many businesses in western North Carolina, this year's hibernation could be bleak after the worst drought on record sparked widespread fires.

The economic impact of two dozen major fires that burned more than 50,000 acres, twice the size of Asheville, remained under study in early December. Losses caused by mandatory evacuations, road closings, a 25-county state of emergency and negative peak-season publicity will run into scores of millions of dollars.

In tiny Hickory Nut Gorge, Don Cason, owner of the historic Esmeralda Inn & Restaurant and director of the Rutherford County Tourism Development Authority, says he and other business owners lost as much as 75% of their revenue for two weeks or more. The mostly sole-proprietor restaurants, shops and inns line the gorge's only highway, U.S. 74. The gorge fire began Nov. 4, and mandatory evacuations of about 1,000 residents started a week later during the normally busy Veterans Day weekend. In Rutherford County, Cason says, tourism brings in about $154 million a year...