>> we were literally on fire. driving through the fire. >> we are dealing with very difficult situations here. and if you are a person that prays we can use your prayers. >> they just want to go home. most have no idea whether their homes are still there and any staff was spared from the flames. the fire is burning near gatlinburg tennessee and their huge. you're seeing the smoke here. it is everywhere. the fires are fast and dangerous and deadly. three have died. in addition to the homes that are in danger, there are hotels and rental cabins. this area is a big draw for tourists. these are some of the biggest local attractions around gatlinburg at pigeon forge. there is the great smoky national park. dollywood as well as the ripley aquarium. >> you for that right. and aquarium in the past. the animals had to be left

evacuate. we know animals are safe tonight. but the thought of them trapped got a lot of you upset. poly rights prayers for the people going to this tragedy and those animals that had to be left behind to an uncertain fate. linda said it's heartbreaking leaving animals behind but i understand they didn't have any way to get them out on such a short notice. >> samantha things aquariums and zoos need better systems designed to get animals out save when something like this happens. that got us wondering how do places around the bay area come up with a plan for their animals. eric glasser was sent out to find out. >> reporter: in the concrete jungle of channel site, fire is not the issue. at the florida aquarium there are more concerns about a different disaster. a hurricane. >> this is where the staff of the people take care of

corrie, the vice president of operations. how prepared they are and what they can and can't do with the 20,000+ plants and animals that live here. >> the glass is rated for category 3 storm winds in a hurricane. that is the line of demarcation. >> up to that, everything stays put. beyond that the plan changes drastically. >> the terrestrials, mammals and reptiles and waterfowl all tr or aquariums outside the danger zone. as for fish, the move is traumatic so all of them stay. no matter what. >> aquatic animals, it's better to keep them in the exhibit then the stress of relocating them. >> to keep what stays behind alive and keep the systems running a small specialized team will write out a hurricane and even a major one at the aquarium.

veterinary staff and animal health staff. >> systems that sustain them located on an outside deck. we see a series of pumps and filters and tanks capable of moving 1 million gallons of seawater. all of it elevated. >> we have a storm surge we are of high. >> a power plant keeps it going. >> the building from an aquatic standpoint will run itself. days. >> making sure this works is no accident. the aquarium holding several practice drills. eric glasser, 10news. although the frontline with a hose, dolly parton is doing her part in the fight. she worked at the national parks system on this reminder to protect the great smoky mountains. >> we need everyone to follow burn bands. be careful while enjoying the outdoors and always support

don't put people's lives in ginger. -- danger. >> dollywood wasn't damaged. this is scary to watch because these are big fires. this is a lot of land and that is a lot of dry area.>> this is the drought map. this is what really set this up. a very dry day. they have been that way all summer. it has been warm and you can see the bull's-eye is south and of where they are. that set the stage for anything that started a fire to get going. you can see it does extend downward. that is where the fire was. they are on the edge of the exceptional drought. that is as bad as it gets. look at what happened yesterday. a frontal boundary pushing this pushing the rain in that direction but ahead of that

picked up at of the south. you already had the fires going but the winds picked up and that kick the fire out. that green right there is smoke being shown on the radar. the rain is back to the west. this was last night. by 830 this was last night. by 8:30 pm the rain is off to the. take a look at this. look at this weather station that we saw out there. just east of gatlinburg tennessee. the morning started at 37 des. at 8:31 am it measured 118 degrees at 8:31 am it measured 1180f. with the wind gusting to 69 miles per hour. that is wind from the system ahead of it coming out of the south. sustained winds in the 40s. fire itself creates its own atmosphere. and the higher the wind blew the more the fire grew and watch what happens to the smoke. you see that extended.

the hot fire is going up and pulling air to fill the void. finally about 9:30 pm last night the rain showed up and then helped to knock it down. they had a break and overnight more rain come through and eventually by midmorning we're talking about 9:30 pm the rain stopped. still fire left over but there's another front coming through doing the same in is getting its act together in mississippi. it is going to bring more rain so there are wind advisories. 40 miles per hour winds. this is up 3000 feet so the wind is higher when you get that high. here is what the forecast looks like. the rain gets in tonight and gets out of there by tomorrow late and a break and then they will have a small chance on sunday and a better chance monday and tuesday. what about us? we have been dry but we are not in a drought yet. we are close to it but over the

three days of rain in the month of november. we are below the 2 1/4 inches. la ni?a is in effect and for winter, this is december, january and february, it means above average temperatures for us and below average rainfall. we will watch this closely. we have a small chance of showers thursday.

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yesterday's attack at ohio state, the rest to get information to you is so hectic. it is like playing a game of telephone. it is constantly changing and everywhere you look. who do you believe? that is a question we are helping you answer tonight. >> right here on these monitors is where we get information from news partners across the country. they get that from police, witnesses and from what they see on social media. what happened at the ohio state university is a good example of why it can take a while to learn the truth and pass that along to you. let's take a look at the timeline. yesterday at 9:52 am the suspect drove over a curb and into a crowd of people. by 9:53 am a police officer called dispatch saying he had shot the suspect. the thing was over in two minutes. we only knew that several hours after the scene was cleared and

to spread. look at this. we know this tweet from the university at 9:56 am was incorrect. it said an active shooter was on campus. there was never a shooter. more than an hour after the attack at 11 am ohio state campus paper said an officer believed the shooter was still inside. we know the suspect did not have a gun and he had a knife and he acted alone. at 11:51 am, two hours after the attack, a columbus newspaper reported that a with two people rammed into a building. one person had a knife they said and another had a gun. you can see how all of that information changed throughout the day. we asked you on facebook what you wanted to know about how we do our jobs. 10news political reporter mark rivera is getting it the big answers -- the big answers. >> the first question is where do we get our information. i want to show you. come over with me.

situation this is the nerve center in the newsroom. we're getting info from different sources and our assignment manager, christina, what do you do? >> the first thing we do is whether we hear something on scanners and we get a phone call or email or social media, the first thing we want to do is confirm this information that we are seeing or hearing. i have a list i know where the breaking news is. i find which agency is working it and i will call that agency whether it is the sheriff department or police or fire. or perhaps all of them. you get on the phone and say what are you hearing. where is it. when did the call come in. what do you know. and i moved from there. >> that is when you send reporters like me and photographers out to the scene. you guys are working very

want to show you and introduce you to one of our web producers who puts our breaking news up on social media and facebook and twitter. and posting it to the website. matt, thank you for being here. tell me, what do you do to make sure what we are posting on our website is the real deal? >> i look for official sources and anything coming out from the police and aviation agencies . anything that comes across twitter or facebo reliable, we look at it and we say okay, i am not sure that this is the real deal but we want to let you know just in case. i want to go from the web desk to what you see on tv and what you hear from the reporters and to the executive producer melissa dart. she is the producer for the evening shows. what do you do to make sure what folks at home are seeing and hearing is accurate?

in contact with reporters and we have a party line where everyone can call in and the producers are on it including myself and the news director and anyone else who is a decision-maker. we are specific. what have you confirmed and who has confirmed that. is it reliable source. do we feel comfortable going on tv and making sure that people know that is what they can rely on. >> we are careful on >> one of the things i think is interesting is that when you are looking at this information if we don't know we make sure to credit the we are getting it from.>> if it is fire rescue, i am specific. is it pinellas or hillsborough. then if something comes back and this is what they told us it is not confirmed. if it is a witness and we say we have a witness, they are trying to confirm that. we credit it one way or

need your help. if we are doing something wrong, tell us. doing something right, tell us. we live in tampa bay and we love this community and we want to be a resource for you. back to you. mark, a lot of what he just showed us happened like that. very quickly. a well oiled machine and any breaking news situation there are big things we want to accomplish for you. we want to get you that information quickly want to make sure it is correct and that can be tough to do at the same time. grab your phone or computer. you can weigh in. wtsp.com/vote now. speed or accuracy? what is most important to you. 6% saying speed and the resting accuracy. another major part of the

officials that will walk you through how they get news back. >> reporter: let's give you a look at how this process gets put into practice. i am with st. petersburg police spokesperson rick shaw with st. pete police. let's talk about a major incident. maybe you are getting one explosion on one end of town and two minutes later a report of an explosion on this side. and one minute later a report of an explosion from that end of town. three explosions and different locations. what is the first thing you do? >> i that come in off of the street. the people will report these things. i need to check the facts that we received and head out to the scene whether the scene over here for over here or up there. >> when the call comes in and you get out to the scene, how do you go about gathering and getting that information out? >> i like to seek out the responding officer and the detective in charge.

in charge. talk to them and establish who, what, where, why, and how. i don't want to put out even erroneous information. time will help us get accurate information. >> complicating all that you have guys like me, something happens and i am on your phone. as is every other reporter in town. >> correct. we get bombarded with multiple calls from print media, news media, what's going on. i may be in the middle of talking to somebody and getting 5 to 6 calls that once. it hinders you a little bit but i realize you have a job to do. i want to try to get you the information as quickly as possible. >> the big thing that is change, not just for us as journalists but for you guys and social media. how does that complicate things?>> everybody gets on their phones and the get on twitter or facebook and start

what they perceive as fact may not be actual fact. we have been asking you which is more important when it comes to breaking news. speed or accuracy. do you want it as quickly as possible or correct as possible. >> you can see on your screen final results right there. 94% say i wanted right. give me the right information. 6% say speed. we do try to accomplish both. the biggest thing transparency. we let you know how things are changing and when things are wrong. >> if there is one thing we want you to take away from this is to know we do our jobs with you in mind. we want you to stay safe in emergencies and that means knowing exactly what's happening as soon as possible.

tonight, we are always going to be honest and reliable. if there is breaking news and you have questions, you can reach out. thanks to social media it is easier than ever. right there, take a look. facebook you can leave us a comment. sent us a message. on twitter, tweet us, 10news. tip said wtsp.com. were pick up the phone. the number is there on your screen. this information is always posted on wtsp.com. we do this for you mark's fees, all of the reporters, reggie and myself. we do this for you. help us make sure you are getting what you need.>> remember, like we should you today, getting those accurate answers takes time. >> when there is conflicting information we will let you

right now in havana cuba there getting ready for a tribute to fidel castro. the second day the ceremonies leading up to the funeral on sunday. >> tonight it is still too early to know how castro's death will affect us cuba relations. fidel castro's death hasn't changed things. he is been out of power for 10 years. it is his brother who rents the country. barack obama has made it our priority to change relationship with cuba. so what is change? cuba is officially not our enemy. in may 2015 the us state department removed cuba from

sponsor state terrorism. about three months later the us then reopened its embassy in havana which has been closed for 54 years. it was controversial. cuba continues to repress and conduct arbitrary tests and public acts of shaming against dissidents. how about trade? let's talk to an expert. this is cindy thomas, she facilitates trade agreements between us companies and the cuban government. the first change, direct commercial flights between the us and cuba.>> it feels more like open more than any other place. >> banks in america are not allowed to complete transactions with banks and cuba. >> time and complexity and the cost and doing business. it makes it feel much more like a normal transaction with any other business in any other country.

not quite friends, not enemies, more like for enemies. trump could undo all these changes and on the other hand it would take an act of congress to make them all

what can be done to stop

stealing dozens of weapons. >> thousands of workers protesting walking off the job nationwide and in tampa bay. a day of disruption. 1 million christmas lights and what do they look like. we will take you there live. later in the newscast. we're seeing it happen time and time again. thieves stealing shops and turning them around for cash on the street. i am dion lim. i am reginald roundtree. guns were stolen from the tampa arms company. you can see a truck rammed through the front of the store and several suspects jump out and go inside. a few months ago three thieves hit the grey wolf armory in wesley chapel grabbing a dozen guns in minutes. that's not all, a year ago

with more than 40 handguns. that means dozens of guns ended up in the hands of thieves and there's no telling where they ended up. so tonight grady trimble is looking into what gun stores are doing to prevent these kinds of burglaries. >> reporter: surveillance cameras captured the break in from several angers. you see a truck slammed through the window of the gunshot. later you see 10 people faces covered ransacking the store. two minutes. then it -- that they take it off . >> the guns are in the wrong hands. it is dangerous. >> the owner is concerned. he says the store had an alarm and bars on the windows and a camera but that these so got away. >> it was any other type of retail jewelry or whatever, jewelry is not dangerous when it hits the street. >> gun store burglaries rose