Notice the smoky haze over parts of metro Atlanta? You’re not alone.
The smoke in Fulton, Cobb and DeKalb counties is not the result of new wildfires, according to the Georgia Forestry Commission.
Commission spokeswoman Wendy Burnett said metro Atlanta is seeing the effects of the same wildfires that have been burning in Paulding and Polk counties as well as in Tennessee, North Carolina and Alabama.
“We have tremendous wildfires in the north part of the state,” Burnett said.
Statewide, there have been 133 new wildfire calls since Monday, Burnett said.
Burned areas reached 120 acres of land in Paulding County on Wednesday, a day after the county became a hot spot for wildfires already ablaze in other northern areas, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.
Also, Henry County fire officials said Wednesday that they will only respond to citizens complaining of smoke if fire is visible.
"The fire department is experiencing an increase in smoke related calls due to wildfires burning in North Georgia," officials said in a statement. "The Georgia Forestry Commission has related the increase in smoke volume in the air to a shift in wind direction. The increase in call volume has the potential to deplete emergency services for the citizens of Henry County."
Wind and dry weather conditions have contributed to both the spread of the fires and the smoke they caused.
Metro Atlanta is in an “extreme” drought, the second most severe drought classification, and other parts of North Georgia are facing “exceptional” conditions, the worst classification, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor.
State and federal climatologists told The AJC that the Chattahoochee and Flint river basins, stretching from North Georgia to Florida, are in a "historic" drought.
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