Wildfire threat remains

Thu, May 8, 2008

By EMILY STRANGER

The Brunswick News

Jason Harris, a forest ranger with the Georgia Forestry Commission, is worried that Southeast Georgia could suffer the same dry conditions that sparked record breaking wildfires in the region last year.

"It's getting pretty dry right now," he said this week. "On a (drought index) scale of 0 to 800, with 0 being totally saturated and 800 being the driest, we're at 469 right now, which is about mid-way."

The problem is not lack of rainfall, Harris said. It's trees. "They are soaking up all the water because they've started sprouting."

Harris has already seen some small wildfires that he attributes to the dry foliage.

He spent Monday night, for example, helping Glynn County firefighters extinguish small fires alongside railroad tracks near Emanuel Loop Road.

He said the flames were started by sparks from a passing train.

"This is the second or third time this year that we've had fires in that area that were started by the train," he said. "There were four separate fires (Monday) night."

Last year, county firefighters and forest rangers responded to the same area in southern Glynn County.

It's a problem that happens again and again, said Glynn County Fire Chief Al Thomas on Tuesday.

In early May of last year, firefighters were called to the area three times in less than two weeks to put out brush fires presumably caused by sparks from passing trains.

Thomas said firefighters were called out at about 6 p.m. Monday and spent almost three hours dousing the flames.

"The fire was strung along probably a four mile stretch of the tracks," he said. "Access to the area is very limited, so we had to go down some of the old logging roads."

Thomas said the operator of the tracks, Colonel's Island Railroad, has been notified of the problem.

Both Thomas and Harris urge residents to exercise caution when it comes to fire and the outdoors, especially if conducting a controlled burn.

"Absolutely do not leave fires unattended, because the least little spark can cause a fire," said Harris. "Be very careful."

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