Some firefighters returned home Friday as diminishing North Georgia wildfires allowed crews to reduce and reassign resources.
Crews fighting the two largest fires in the state are focusing on restoring the Chattahoochee-Oconee National Forest to its former self, the U.S. Forest Service reported.
They were able to shift their focus from containment to cleanup in large part because of storms Wednesday that brought an added 1.5 inches of rain where the largest fire in the state is burning in Fannin County. Officials were no longer worried about the fire growing Friday.
The Rough Ridge fire, which spans 27,870 acres in the Cohutta Wilderness area, has been 95 percent contained since Thursday, said Larisa Bogardus, a spokeswoman for the fire team. She is part of a multi-agency team including the U.S. Forest Service and the South Central Oregon Fire Management Partnership.
Before getting downpours this week, drought conditions had been so exceptional in far North Georgia that wildfires quickly spread each day. Those threats lured firefighters from 24 different states to Georgia.
“We had crews here as far as Hawaii and Alaska,” U.S. Forest Service spokeswoman Debbie Carlisi said.
But fires slowed as the rain aided crews working in shifts nonstop to contain the blazes. The number of people working the fire in Rough Ridge was down to 95 Friday.
“We are scaling back just about daily,” Bogardus said.
Officials working the Rock Mountain fire in Rabun County, including Carlisi, said crews there are doing the same.
The Rock Mountain fire has torched 24,725 acres about 10 miles north of Clayton in northeast Georgia. It was 70 percent contained Friday, up from 63 Thursday. Crews included 534 people Friday, down from 605.
The fire isn’t expected to be fully contained until Dec. 15, according to an Incident Management Situation Report.
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Georgia Forestry Commission spokeswoman Wendy Burnett said rain helped extinguish all but three wildfires in Georgia on Friday. Those are in Rough Ridge, Rock Mountain and Tatum Gulf.
The smallest of the blazes, the Tatum Gulf fire spanned 2,836 acres and was 95 percent contained Friday in Dade County.
“We’ll continue to work on the Tatum Gulf fire in Dade County, and we will monitor older fires just to ensure that everything still looks good,” Burnett said.
Calls on wildfires were down from nearly 80 two weeks ago to six Thursday. The organization didn't receive any new fire calls Friday.
Those storms didn’t bring all positive impacts, though. A tornado threat stalled firefighting efforts in Fannin County, and metro Atlanta areas were even less lucky.
Six tornadoes were confirmed Friday in Carroll, Catoosa and Cobb counties, as well as Buckhead, Alpharetta and Commerce, according to the National Weather Service.
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Downpours throughout North Georgia ended a record 43-day dry streak Tuesday in the metro area. Atlanta beat a record for the 2.32 inches of rainfall it got Tuesday, according to the National Weather Service. The former record for rainfall was set at 1.68 inches in 1914.
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In metro Atlanta, as with counties throughout Georgia, stiff new watering restrictions took effect Nov. 17.
A total fire ban remains in place in the Chattahoochee-Oconee National Forest. Building or using a fire or campfire is prohibited until moisture in soil and other areas reaches a safe level.
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Conditions will be evaluated daily to determine when county burning bans will be lifted, Burnett said.
An annual five-day bear and buck hunt is still on in the Cohutta Wildlife Management Area.
Hunting, which runs through Dec. 4, will be restricted due to the Rough Ridge fire.
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Tennessee wildfires led to at least 13 deaths as officials ordered evacuations in downtown Gatlinburg, Pigeon Forge and in other areas near the Smoky Mountains, according to The Associated Press.
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Officials said 700 structures in Gatlinburg and nearby areas have been damaged or destroyed by the fire, and more than 14,000 residents and tourists were forced to evacuate the city.
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