Wildfires, not hurricane, hits area
Authorities on Friday said a wildfire that has burned hundreds of acres on Strawberry Mountain in Walker County was about 80 percent under control.
The U.S. Forestry Service and the Georgia Forestry Commission worked together to battle the widespread fire including the use of helicopters to apply fire suppression water and chemicals.
According to U.S. Forestry Service Fire Management Officer Jeff Schardt, the firefighters were dispatched to Strawberry Mountain on Manning Mill Creek at 1 a.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 5,
Georgia Forestry Commissions communications and fires and the blaze spread. The result was that as of late Monday afternoon U.S. Forestry officials considered the wildfire to be about 70 percent contained.
The cause of the fire has not been determined, but extremly dry conditions raise the possibility of fires being caused by sparks from trailer safety chains that drag along the roadway or by carelessly discarded cigarettes.
Hundreds of acres have burned
Warren said roughly 477 acres burned.
On Thursday, the on-site crew had two bulldozers, two brush trucks and other equipment on site near
Manning Mill Creek.
On Friday, the crew on site had eight workers from GFC, one 10-person crew from U.S. Forestry Service, one bulldozer, a helicopter, and an incident command system that organizes both the GFC and the federal Forestry Service on site.
“There were three homes that were immediately threatened. We secured around those last night,” Schardt said Thursday.
The crews returned Thursday morning after taking eight hours off from battling the wildfire and there were 25-30 firefighters on site that afternoon, Schardt said.
How to contain
Warren said on Friday morning that the 477 acres have not all burned, but are expected to burn as the crews work towards total containment.
The on-site crews will set some of the fuel, as in the foliage, on fire themselves to keep the uncontrolled wildfire from spreading. This controlled burn will burn up any possible fuel sources that could spread from the unpredictable wildfire.
Warren said crews are trying to make sure the containment lines are big enough that the heavy winds moving into the area do not cause the blaze to cross the fire breaks.
“We’ve been having increasing initial attack activity due to the drought,” Schardt said when asked about any recent other wildfires in the state.
“The number one priority is life safety and personal property, so what we did yesterday was secure that line down through here (Manning Mill Road) and secure the homes and so that pushes up to the woods where it is not a threat to the public, or the local folks here,” Schardt said.
There have been no injuries to the residents or the firefighters themselves.
The U.S. Forest Service roads in the area are closed for public safety, Schardt said.