Gatlinburg couple, 82, hikes mountain to escape Tennessee wildfires

Credit: Brian Blanco

Credit: Brian Blanco

An 82-year-old couple survived when their neighborhood went up in flames by making a daring escape in the darkness down steep, mountainous terrain.

Daryl and Robert Hullander, who have been married 57 years, and operate a bed and breakfast, learned about the fire with only a few moments notice Monday night, according to WBIR.

"We are 82 years old. Going down a mountain is not on the exercise list," Daryl Hullander told WBIR.

They felt their way down the hills and around trees in the dark.

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"You put one foot in front of the other and you just keep on going and if you fall you get up and you keep on going," Robert Hullander told WBIR.

Police found several victims of the fire along a road leading to the Hullander's neighborhood.

The Hullander's house burned down in the conflagration.

"It's things, you know," Robert Hullander said. "You can't buy your body, but you can buy things, so you just don't fret about what you've lost."

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