Fire Threat Not Over Yet

News

On Sunday, April 2, 2017, three brush fires were started by residents burning trash and clearing land. Fortunately for the Union County Fire Department (UCFD), all of the fires were in the north end of Union County. Still, it was a busy afternoon for Union County and Georgia Forestry firefighters. No one intended to start a brush fire. These were not intentional acts, but they were not well thought out.

Union County Firefighters Dustin Lee and Patrick Schmidt told Fetch Your News that the temperature on Sunday afternoon was right around 80 degrees and the humidity was hovering around 22 per cent. Also, the ground cover of dead leaves and pine needles is very thick. The recent rains we’ve had lately have not penetrated the ground cover, so, underneath it’s dry. These make for ripe conditions for brush fires.

All it takes is one small ember from a trash fire carried by a gentle breeze over to some dry ground cover to start a brush fire. Brush fires move incredibly fast, so in a matter of minutes, the unsuspecting resident can be, and was on Sunday, completely overwhelmed.

The first call came in a little after one thirty p.m. alerting UCFD of a brush fire on Orchard Dr. Someone was clearing land and burning the debris and it got away from them. They did have a burn permit.
The next two calls came in around three thirty p.m. within minutes of each other; one on Cove Rd. and another on R.T. Lance. The homeowner on Cove Rd. was burning trash; he lost an out building and melted the siding on his neighbor’s house. The homeowner on R.T. Lance was burning a small amount of debris which got away from her and scorched several acres of a neighbors property.

One of the main problems with these brush fires is, given the number of rural homes in Union County, outside the Blairsville City Limits on top of mountains, on the sides of mountains and in the valleys, fast moving, out of control brush fires can easily become house fires, garage fires and/or barn fires for structures in their path; and do all the time.

The problem with fighting brush fires here in the mountains is the terrain and the speed with which they move. Firefighters can also be overwhelmed. Fetch Your News was on hand at the R.T. Lance fire and watched as as a Georgia Forestry bulldozer that was attempting to cut a fire break got caught on a large stump about 30 feet from the edge of the fire. UCFD and Georgia Forestry firefighters were able to cut the bulldozer lose with a chainsaw, but it could have been a disaster. This was all within a few feet of the yard of a new mountain home the firefighters were trying to protect.

It was brought to the attention of Fetch Your News that some trash is illegal to burn. Consult Georgia Forestry  or UCFD for what can be burned legally and what must be taken to the dump or recycled.

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