Page 24 - Georgia Forestry - Winter2017

Fire &theFury
Dedicated people risk their safety to protect our communities
Story by Stasia Kelly | Photography by Raftermen Photography
It was the first full week in October and Mother Nature seemed agitated. Georgia’s historic drought was deepening and wildfire danger was rising. Hurricane Matthew was churning in the Caribbean, and its residual winds were causing problems for north Georgia.
By Friday, October 7, a perfect storm had Georgia Forestry Commission (GFC) teams moving firefighting reinforcements. While some GFC
professionals were old hands at this,
others were still fresh to the agency.
They all braced for the emergencies
that would take them away from
their families to the front lines.
In Dade County, the winds pro- vided a dangerous boost to a voracious fire on Fox Mountain, and it jumped hard-fought containment lines.
“The fire behavior has been real erratic,” said Kris Butler, assistant district manager for GFC’s Coosa District, as the fires continued to burn in late November. “The
drought index is so high and the fuels are very combustible. We’re just not able to turn our backs,” he said.
Conditions on the Fox Mountain fire were extremely difficult: sheer rock bluffs, steep terrain, slippery leaf fall and smoldering duff layers that could flare up at any time. New fires were break- ing out almost hourly across the region.
“It was tough going up and down with backpacks, tools and water,” said Russell Auldridge, a GFC ranger 1 from Satilla District who was getting his very first look at the Georgia mountains. Vene- mous snakes, sheer rock bluffs and slippery leaves were everywhere. “It was very steep and you had to be real careful where you stepped. We walked about two miles a day in an area where trucks and tractors couldn’t run.” Auldridge and his hand crew teammates were donned in fire resistant Nomex® clothing, goggles, hard hats and gloves, and they carried fire shelters and dust
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