While the fight continues against ultra-dry conditions and a fire-stoking wind, on at least one front, the battle against the Georgia forest blazes may have turned.
The Rough Ridge fire – covering 27,870 acres as of mid-day today – was 50 percent contained at mid-day today, according to Brian Grant, an information officer for the Chattahoochee Oconee National Forest.
“It is a mixed message,” Grant said. “We feel confident about the containment lines, but we are keeping the firefighters out there, trying to keep them clear. It is still a dangerous situation.”
Battling the blaze at Rough Ridge are 232 men and women, some from New York and California. They are aided by two helicopters, two water tankers, two bulldozers and 10 fire engines, said Grant, himself sent from California.
And while the fight may have turned their way, firefighters are getting little help from the weather. The cold makes their work harder – temperatures this morning hit a low of 20 degrees. Moreover, anywhere the firefighters have not built containment lines, the fire has ample and very combustible fuel thanks to the continued drought conditions.
And making it worse, of course, is another day of flame-whipping wind.
Despite the challenge, the containment lines have been cut to the east, between the fire and the towns of Cisco and Blue Ridge, Grant said.
But the fire is still advancing to the west, gradually moving toward roads and homes. To the southwest is Chatsworth, and just to the west of that is Dalton. From Chatsworth to downtown Atlanta is about 86 miles.
The blaze at Rough Ridge is one of at least 20 fires being fought in the state today – plus a number of new ones, according to Byron Haire, spokesperson for the Georgia Forestry Commission.
That includes fires at:
— Rock Mountain in Rabun and Towns counties, where a fire that someone apparently set has been burning for more than 10 days. The fire, which has engulfed 9,382 acres, is about 30 percent contained. The causes is under investigation, according to the commission.
Carol Lagodich, a spokeswoman from the U.S. Forest Service, said in mid-afternoon that the Rock Mountain fire was advancing slowly down the hill toward Tate, but that the firefighters had prepared.
“They do have a line ready for it,” she said. “They are expecting it.”
Nearly 500 firefighters were working to block the fire’s progress at Rock Mountain, she said.
However, on the north side of the burning area, there still wasn’t much stopping the fire, Lagodich said. “On the north side, in the wilderness area, the fire is not contained.”
Lagodich is normally stationed in the southeast of Alaska, an area that typically receives an average of about 150 inches of rain a year, she said. "So we don't get many fires up there."
— Lookout Mountain’s Tatum Gulf. That fire – formed when two separate fires merged – is burning about 2,836 acres but is 65 percent contained.
— Creek Road in Dade County, where a 72-acre fire is 99 percent contained.
— Irwin Mill Road in Gordon County, where 107 acre blaze is 99 percent contained. That blaze was apparently stopped just short of five homes, the commission reported.
— Treat Mountain in Polk County, a 558-acre fire that is also 99 percent contained.
Thanks to the dry conditions, two new fires started in that area, one completely contained, but a 400-acre blaze was just 30 percent contained at mid-day, the commission said.
Cause of the newest fires is under investigation.
— Fox Mountain, a 2,083 acre fire in Dade County, is 100 percent contained.
It wasn't only the forests that were burning. On Sunday, crews battled a fire at a landfill in Milton.
The flurry of fires raised larger questions about climate, global warming and — whatever the causes — the changes in weather patterns.
As reported in the AJC, experts warn that the conditions that have produced the current spate of fires are not likely to disappear soon.
Government and other organizations have urged safer habits.
Governor Nathan Deal has ordered restrictions on outdoor watering and Thursday prohibited North Georgians from washing streets, sidewalks and cars, except at commercial carwashes.
The governor also encouraged 58 counties across Middle Georgia to conserve water.
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