Jody Callahan

The (Memphis) Commercial Appeal

MEMPHIS — A Memphis architect and his wife are missing in the devastating fires that hit Gatlinburg this week, friends confirmed late Tuesday night.

Jon Summers and his wife, Janet, haven't been found, friends said last night, and their three sons have been hospitalized after being caught in the fire. At least one son was airlifted in critical condition to a hospital in Nashville; the other two have also been hospitalized but it's not certain where. They are also believed to be in critical condition.

Jon Summers is an architect at brg3s architects, a local firm that began in 2011. The family apparently went to the Smoky Mountains for a weekend getaway. Facebook posts from family members also confirm that the two are missing.

Extent of Tennessee fire damage comes into grim focus

"The fires in the North Carolina mountains are close to Gatlinburg. We are in an odd space with little visibility, ashes floating. Feels like end of times. Businesses closing, people wearing masks," Janet Summers wrote in a Facebook post as the fires spread.

At least three people have been confirmed dead in the fires, which have destroyed at least 150 homes and businesses while displacing more than 14,000 residents. Officials estimate that this wildfire and other similar ones of late have consumed more than 15,000 acres in the Smokies.