NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Money is coming in to help victims of the deadly, destructive wildfire in Sevier County in November.
The U.S. Department of Labor gave a National Dislocated Worker Grant of $5,824,000 to the Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development to aid in recovery efforts.
Fourteen people died in the wildfire, and more than 2,000 buildings were damaged. It also caused hundreds of workers to be dislocated.
The TDLWD will get $2 million of the grant money to start off then can use the rest of the funds as needed.
It’s expected to help about 200 Tennessee workers.
Commissioner Burns Phillips said he and his team will work with local leaders to determine which programs in the area will be able to make the best use of the funds.
“This will allow the state of Tennessee to not only put people back to work, but it will also accelerate the clean-up and recovery process in an area of our state that saw so much devastation late last year,” he said.