Total Containment Reached On North Georgia Wildfires
Firefighters Valarie Lopez, left, and Mark Tabaez work to cool hot spots after a wildfire burned a hillside Tuesday, Nov. 15, 2016, in Clayton, Ga. On Tuesday, the Tennessee Valley Authority issued a burn ban on its public lands across Tennessee and in parts of Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina and Virginia. U.S. Forest … Continued
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It took months of hard work, but fire crews in north Georgia can now claim victory. They’ve reached total containment in the region.
“You know, we’ve had some wonderful rain and it’s knocked the fires back and greatly diminished our immediate risk of wildfires, but we’re not out of the drought yet, believe it or not. So we still ask people to be cautious, understand where we are,” said Wendy Burnett, a spokeswoman for the Georgia Forestry Commission.
The U.S. Forest Service says all areas, roads and trails that were closed due to the wildfires are now back open to the public. That includes the Appalachian Trail.
Roughly 42,000 national forest acres have been scorched over the past two and a half months.
The Rough Ridge Fire, which was in the Cohutta Wilderness, started from a bolt of lightning.
The Rock Mountain Fire, near Clayton, is suspected to be arson. The suspect remains at large.
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