Fighting large, fast-moving wildfires can be exhilarating work – both dangerous and thrilling at the same time.
It also can become monotonous, as fire crews in North Georgia are learning.
Firefighters have been battling the Rock Mountain fire in northeast Georgia since Nov. 9. And they’ve been at it even longer – since Oct. 16 – on the Rough Ridge fire in the Chattahoochee National Forest.
So at a briefing at Rock Mountain on Sunday, officials urged firefighters to stay aware not just of the sameness of the work they’re doing day after day, but also of changing conditions in the fire zone.
“We have to keep our focus, keep our patience,” Keith Satterfield, deputy incident commander for the U.S. Forest Service, said at the briefing, which was streamed on Facebook. “We still have a job to do. Even though we can see the end is in sight, there’s still a lot of work to do on this fire.”
The Rock Mountain fire – covering parts of Rabun and Towns counties in Georgia and Clay and Macon counties in North Carolina – continues to grow, the forest service said Sunday. The fire now covers 22,371 acres, up from 20,647 acres on Saturday. But the perimeter of the fire is still 40 percent contained.
The Rough Ridge fire in Murray, Fannin and Gilmer counties is 87 percent contained, the forest service said, and did not expand over the weekend. The fire covers 27,870 acres.
Crews have been conducting “burnouts,” in which they ignite previously unburned ground vegetation between the active edge of the fire and the containment lines. This process eliminates potential fuel the fire needs to expand.
Firefighters are using the technique to protect dwellings in several areas, including around Betty’s Creek, north of Clayton.
Burnouts are “a super-important mission,” said Barry Shullanberger, a forest service operations chief.
Seven significant wildfires continued to burn in the state on Sunday, according to the Georgia Forestry Commission. Besides Rock Mountain and Rough Ridge, the largest is the Tatum Gulf fire in Dade County. It covers 2,836 acres and is 80 percent contained. Thirty new fires were reported Saturday, the commission said, but altogether consumed only 107 acres.
Crews have extinguished nine other Georgia fires (although one of those merged with the Rock Mountain fire). Together, those nine fires burned 822 acres.
For the first time in weeks, the weather forecast Sunday provided reason for optimism.
The National Weather Service predicted that as much as 4 ½ inches of rain could fall across North Georgia’s fire zone between Monday evening and Thursday. Rainfall totals of about 2 inches are expected in metro Atlanta.
About the Author
