GATLINBURG, Tenn. — Super Suds Coin Laundry will host a “Free Laundry Weekend” here on Saturday and Sunday in support of residents whose homes were damaged or destroyed by wildfires last week and of emergency response teams and volunteers who have streamed into the resort community to assist.
The disaster began Nov. 28 when high winds spread embers from a fire in the Great Smoky Mountains, which surrounds Gatlinburg on three sides. Flames built quickly and prompted mandatory emergency evacuations of Gatlinburg and of Pigeon Forge farther to the north.
At least 14 people were killed, more than 100 were injured and more than 1,700 structures were damaged or destroyed by the wildfires, according to official reports.
Stephen (Steve) Tanner Sr., who owns the unattended Laundromat that is open around the clock, was out of state when the inferno swept through. Within a couple of days, son Stephen Jr. had traveled to Gatlinburg from south Alabama and was able to confirm that Tanner’s house and laundry business had been spared.
“I told him, ‘Don’t close the doors. Just put up a note telling people that we don’t have gas, so they can’t dry, but there’s cold-water washing and air drying,’” recalls the elder Tanner. “The main thing was, keep the doors open for the people being affected by the smoke, so they could get out of the smoke.”
Once natural gas service was restored last Thursday, Super Suds was fully operational again.
Many Super Suds customers live in apartment complexes, efficiency apartments and converted motels, he says, and it was apparent from news reports that many had lost their homes.
“I told my son, ‘We have to do something to help these people who have lost everything,’” says Tanner, his voice cracking. It wasn’t long before he learned that the only other Laundromat in the city had been destroyed.
Tanner posted a notice on the Coin Laundry Association’s forum asking fellow members for ideas on how best he could serve his community. He instructed his son how to change the vend prices on his equipment so customers could wash at the lowest price possible, with Super Suds receiving no profit.
At the suggestion of Ken Barrett, owner of Washin Anniston Coin Laundry in Alabama, Tanner created a GoFundMe campaign that has garnered several hundred dollars in donations in the last week.
Another laundry owner from Georgia has offered to assist by providing Tanner with vended products and parts, and distributors Cates Laundry Equipment and Laundrylux are helping to sponsor the free-laundry event that Super Suds will host after the city reopens to the public this Friday.
He is expecting a “surge” of business once blockades are down and is prepared to remain open 24/7 with temporary attendants working to assist customers.
“I see the need that we’re going to be able to meet is the gap [for] the people leaving the evacuation center for temporary housing and not having anywhere to wash anything,” he says. “Not every facility up here has washers and dryers available.”
Tanner is back in Gatlinburg and staying at a local motel until his home’s water service is restored.
As for Super Suds, he says he will continue the “no-profit approach for as long as I can and as long as there is a need.”
Anyone interested in learning more about Super Suds’ community service may visit the laundry’s website or its Facebook page.
Have a question or comment? E-mail our editor Bruce Beggs at [email protected].