KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Evacuated neighbors returned home Thursday after the fire in North Knoxville at Fort Loudon Waste and Recycling on Wednesday.
The Knoxville Fire Department lifted the evacuation order Thursday afternoon.
As neighbors returned, they said the experience was indescribable--the smell, the heat, the sounds and the fear.
All of the neighbors 10News spoke to feared their home would not be there when they returned.
Many were relieved and grateful to see their homes had minimal damage, especially on Morelia Avenue.
"When you look over here it just looks like nighttime, that's how dark it was over here," said Abi Mullins. "You see on the videos, it looks terrible on the videos, but in person it's so much worse."
Just down the street, Melissa Moore said she had to leave her dogs at home while her family stayed in a motel.
But she came back this morning to find the dog, Wishbone, and her other pets okay.
"My dogs, is the house going to catch on fire, everything we have is here," Moore said. "So it was hard worrying about them so much, but I had to think about my family first."
Amy Godsey was thinking the worst as well.
"When I come back this morning, I was like thank you, Jesus, thank you," Godsey said. "Because I work, I work to raise what I’ve got, I moved here in '07 with nothing... and I build it to this, and I was scared to death it was all going to be took from us."
Most people 10News spoke with stayed in hotels or with family and friends.
But there were shelters open at Salvation Army and the Emerald Youth Foundation. Both say no one stayed overnight but people sought services there.