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Metro Atlanta

Smyrna sends firefighters to battle North Georgia wildfires

November 15, 2016, Clayton: Firefighters Valerie Lopez and Mark Tabarez, from southeast New Mexico, put out hot spots at the Rock Mountain Fire along Old Coleman River Road on Tuesday, Nov. 15, 2016, near Clayton. Curtis Compton/ccompton@ajc.com
November 15, 2016, Clayton: Firefighters Valerie Lopez and Mark Tabarez, from southeast New Mexico, put out hot spots at the Rock Mountain Fire along Old Coleman River Road on Tuesday, Nov. 15, 2016, near Clayton. Curtis Compton/ccompton@ajc.com
Ben Brasch
By Ben Brasch
Nov 18, 2016

Smyrna firefighters are heading to North Georgia to fight the drought-induced wildfires ripping through the area.

They will head to Hiawassee in Towns County where there is an "imminent threat of structure fires," Smyrna officials said in a Facebook post Thursday.

In nearby Fannin County, the Rough Ridge fire has burned about 27,000 acres in the Cohutta Wilderness area of the Chattahoochee-Oconee National Forest.

The Smyrna Fire Department sent a reserve engine and a three-member crew. Crews will be on 24-hour shifts. The deployment is expected to last four to five days.

"Our personnel are assisting in the protection and safeguard of residential and structural properties," the city said.