FLOYD COUNTY, Ga. — Georgia Forestry officials say all of the wildfires across the Northwest part of the state are now 100 percent contained, with just one exception. On Thursday a recon team flew out of Floyd County and spent more than two hours in the air, searching for smoke across the thousands of acres scorched in the last several weeks.
"We're comfortable that based on our survey this afternoon, moving to 100-percent containment on the fires that we're monitoring here in North Georgia, with the exception of Tatum Gulf in Dade County. We're going to stick with 95 percent containment, reason being that it was an intense fire,” Forestry Commission Spokesperson Hannah Cowert said.
While the northern part of the state got a good soaking from this week’s rain, officials say the fire risk remains high because it may only take a couple of days for it all to dry out again.
"The rain is great. It will help tremendously, but what comes with the rain is the wind and that dries it out pretty quick. We haven't had a season like this in over 10 years, so we have to be vigilant,” Forestry Pilot Greg Daughtridge said.
Beginning Friday, officials say many of the wildland firefighter crews will stand down and head home.
Cox Media Group
