DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. — Fire crews are battling a large tree debris fire in DeKalb County that officials say could burn for weeks.
It broke out just after 5 a.m. along South Stone Mountain Lithonia Road, just north of Lithonia, forcing fire crews to shut down a stretch of the road.
The mound of logs and mulch is on the property of ArborServ, a company that removes trees, shrubs and stumps.
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Officials say the pile is about 60 feet tall and half a football field wide, and firefighters on ladder trucks have been continuously blasting it with water.
“We are expecting that this will be an extended incident, being that this will burn for possibly weeks,” Capt. Jaeson Daniels of DeKalb County Fire Rescue, told Channel 2’s Bryan Mims.
Given the sheer volume and depth of the debris, extinguishing the fire is a slow process.
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“Deep-seated fires are difficult to get to,” Daniels said. “With this particular incident, with the timber being so large, we’re unable to move it safely to get our guys in there to actually extinguish those flames.”
Daniels told Channel 2 Action News that the Georgia Forestry Commission was expected Wednesday to build a fire break, or gap, around the debris to keep the fire from spreading to nearby vegetation.
Workers from ArborServ are removing unburned mulch and logs from the property to prevent anything else from igniting.
But Daniels said no buildings are in danger, and nobody was hurt.
No homes are in the immediate area, so he said the fire poses not significant health risks. But several businesses are located along the closed road, including D and K Quality Tires.
Owner Kevin Douglas said his clientele don’t have access.
“It sucks. We can’t get any cars down here and can’t get any tires changed out,” he said. “A lot of customers are calling us and letting us know that they’re being held up down the street and they can’t get in to get their tires repaired.”
He said the smoke filled up his shop Tuesday, but described the air quality as “a lot better” Wednesday.
It’s unclear when the road could reopen, but Daniels said it could be shut down “for some time.”
He said fire crews will monitor the site for weeks to make sure no hot spots flare up. Rain is the forecast Thursday, which he said will be a As for the cause of the fire, that remains under investigation.
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