Virtually all of the brush fires that started Tuesday afternoon and ripped through about 55 acres in Floyd County are under control, the Georgia Forestry Commission said Wednesday afternoon.
However, some were still smoldering just before 12:30 p.m.
“We will probably be there for the remainder of the day,” commission spokeswoman Wendy Burnett said.
Flames broke out about 3 p.m. Tuesday along U.S. 27 and Cave Spring Road, and they continued along Booger Hollow Road overnight. Booger Hollow Road was shut down.
Road closures initially prevented nearly two dozen students from getting home in Floyd County. The students were eventually rerouted to Pepperell High School, Floyd County Schools said.
There were “no planned changes” to school schedules Wednesday, the district said.
The fires, among a dozen that broke out Tuesday in North Georgia, damaged two homes, caused evacuations and destroyed a garage with four classic cars, officials said.
A truck dragging a train may have accidentally sparked the fires, but officials have not ruled out the probability the fires were deliberately set, Channel 2 Action News reported.
The cause and nature of the fires are still under investigation, Burnett said.
She reminded residents that conditions are so dry anything they do to create an open flame can lead to a wildfire that spreads “extremely fast.”
North Georgia is in the middle of a drought. Floyd County is in an “exceptional” drought, the most severe drought designation, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor.
