David Jordan doesn’t get a lot of sleep when there’s a fire burning in his back yard.
The park manager at Sweetwater Creek State Park in Douglas County, who lives on the grounds, was up all night Saturday stomping out flares while 10 acres of the popular hiking and fishing destination smoldered.
The blaze at Sweetwater is one of scores of brush fires burning around Georgia where hot, dry conditions have turned wooded areas into explosive tinder.
“I’m a determined individual,” said Jordan Sunday, strapping on a water cannon backpack, his yellow and green flame-resistant Nomex clothing and his yellow hard hat standing out against the gray ash and smoke all around him. “That’s why I’m not home asleep right now.”
Jordan received some help Sunday morning from members of the Georgia Forestry Commission. Foresters used bulldozers to clear fire breaks around the flames, but then were called to another woods fire in Douglasville.
Jordan and his fellow members of the Department of Natural Resources used rakes and shovels to “mop up” areas where small tongues of flame continued to lick at the undergrowth and piles of ultra-dry leaves sent off clouds of pungent smoke.
“I can smell it,” said Michael Chandler, standing in a parking area near the park’s North Causeway. Chandler and his friend Kammie Tipton rode their motorcycles to the park Sunday in search of a waterfall.
But the waterfall — really a series of rapids in the creek — has dwindled to a trickle with the drought, and parts of the creek are so low you can cross on foot.
Officials don’t know how the fire started at Sweetwater. It was first reported Thursday evening, and fire crews have returned several times.
A spark could have traveled from a fire ring or barbecue grill elsewhere in the park. Despite the flammable conditions, Jordan said the park hasn’t banned campfires or cook fires, as long as visitors use designated fire rings and never leave their fires unattended.
He asked that hikers and campers stay vigilant. Fires have interrupted the camping plans of many Georgians.
As of Sunday no hikers were being allowed into the 37,000-acre Cohutta Wilderness at the northern edge of the state, where drought conditions are the most extreme, and where fires have already burned 3,000 acres.
The closure comes at the height of the leaf-watching season, a time when North Georgia usually sees a spike in tourism.
According to the Forestry Commission’s Facebook page, “Wildfire activity in (Georgia) for October was just over 200 times our five-year average for the month. With no rain in sight, we aren’t done yet.”
There is no statewide ban on outdoor fires, though some counties have issued burning bans.
Nonetheless, “I would advise again any camp fires, hot dog cooking fires, anything,” said Tracy Mobley of the Georgia Fire Commission, chief ranger over Carroll, Haralson and Douglas counties. “People need to use some common sense,” he said. “I wouldn’t have any kind of fire right now until we get some rain.”
But very little rain is predicted.
While the fire at Sweetwater Creek State Park is “90 percent” contained, a breeze can turn over some of the abundant fallen leaves, and rekindle the flames. “It will take a couple of days before it’s in the black,” said Ray Smith, assistant Region 4 manager with the state Department of Natural Resources.
The phrase refers to the blackened ash at Smith’s feet, a substance that is no longer flammable.
About 814,000 people visit Sweetwater Creek State Park every year. The 2,549-acre park includes lakes, a creek, hiking trails, and the ruins of a pre-Civil War textile mill.
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