I’m
from the mountains of North Georgia where there is a short dry season and lots
of humidity, so fortunately my experience with wildfires is nearly non-existent.
Our storms are typically cyclonic and occur with heavy rain, however human
error does sometimes transpire as the area is popular for primitive camping and
the intentional fires that accompany that particular activity. One such camp
fire served as the ignition source for the only large wildfire Dahlonega,
Georgia has had in recent memory. It was the end of May, so the region was
experiencing a dry spell with lots of high winds. It is typical for these winds
to not only spread the fire more quickly, but to also knock dead branches from the
trees allowing for extra fuel for the fire and doubling its contribution to the
problem. The fire quickly engulfed a few hundred acres. To stop the spread,
responders employed a tractor-plow unit to plow firebreaks around the afflicted
area and separate the fire from additional fuel. They then used helicopters to retrieve water from a lake behind my house so that
they could remove the heat and oxygen from the fire triangle. It was
interesting to watch, to say the least.
http://www.gfc.state.ga.us/forest-fire/
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