Country singer Dolly Parton donated $200,000 to eight volunteer fire departments in the east Tennessee county where she was born and grew up, WBIR reported.
Parton, who grew up in Sevier County, donated to the departments that helped battle the deadly fires that raged through the county in 2016. The money for the fire departments and Sevier County's training center was donated through The Dollywood Foundation's My People Fund, the Knoxville News Sentinel reported.
"It is only fitting that the last of the My People Fund will go to those who were the first to respond to the fires," Parton in a news release posted to her website.
The My People Fund donated $20,000 to each fire station and $40,000 to the training center, according to the news release.
Parton met with the fire chiefs at Dollywood's DreamMore Resort and Spa on Saturday and made the donation "in recognition of their instrumental role in fighting the 2016 wildfires," the news release said.
Sevier County needed $40,000 to meet a goal of building a new classroom at the training center, WBIR reported.
Parton, 73, announced the creation of the My People Fund after high-speed winds carried flames from a five-day-old fire through Gatlinburg on Nov. 28, 2016, the News Sentinel reported. The fires in Sevier County killed 14 people and destroyed more than 2,500 homes, the newspaper reported.
