Repairs underway as North Georgia wildfires near containment

“Crews took advantage of clear, dry weather (Sunday) to continue repair work with resource advisers along the (Rock Mountain) fire’s northern perimeter,” a report said Monday. “They also continued to patrol the fire line.”

But due to the rain, crews didn’t work on repair efforts.

For more than a month, crews have been battling wildfires that burned more than 50,000 acres. With no measurable rain for a record 43 days, local firefighters relied on multiple agencies to help fight the flames, many of them from out of state. Some came from as far away as Alaska.

The Rough Ridge fire in Fannin County, which was the state’s largest, burned nearly 28,000 acres before it was 95 percent contained during the weekend.

The Rock Mountain fire in Rabun County burned nearly 25,000 acres and was 95 percent contained Monday. It is expected to be fully contained by Dec. 15.

“Our priorities while working on the Rock Mountain Fire here on the Chattahoochee-Oconee National Forest have been to ensure the well-being of our firefighters, to protect the safety and welfare of the public, to limit fire spread and to implement suppression repair actions to preserve the forest resources,” Rock Mountain wildfire incident commander Steve Parish said in a release.

The Tatum Gulf fire in Dade County burned nearly 2,800 acress and is also 95 percent contained.

Many smaller fires also popped up amid the drought conditions, including several in the metro Atlanta area.

During the fight against the wildfires, Gov. Nathan Deal imposed a fireworks ban across the state Nov. 14. Several counties also enacted burn bans to prevent new wildfires from starting.