Details Released on Weekend Wildfire

Stephens County Fire officials have released details on this weekend’s wildfire along Georgia Highway 365.

According to Stephens County Volunteer Fire Services Coordinator Jamey Gettys, authorities were notified by 911 at about 3:41 p.m. Saturday to respond to a wildfire just above the Jeanette Jamieson Intersection on Highway 365.

Gettys said that when the first units arrived, they observed a large wildfire moving North from the roadside.

He said that the Georgia Forestry Commission was notified, along with several other Stephens County fire stations and Habersham County fire units.

Also, Gettys said the U.S. Forest Service responded due to this being mostly on Forest Service property.

According to Gettys, the Forest Service called in a helicopter that was dropping water on the fire from the air, while dozers from Georgia Forestry and the Forest Service put in a fire break around the fire to stop its progress.

He said a U.S. Forest Service crew was also in the area from out of town and assisted.

Gettys said Forestry crews set back fires to burn out the unburned fuels inside the breaks, while Stephens County stationed several fire trucks in the Trestle Ridge Subdivision, The Summit Subdivision, and around the rock quarry to protect the homes in those areas.

In all, Gettys said he estimates that they had about 50 firefighters between all agencies involved, four dozers, a tanker, seven engines and three brush trucks.

He said the exact size and cause is undetermined at this time but the helicopter advised that it was around 60 acres.

Gettys said it took about three hours to bring the fire under control and after that, the fire departments left and the Forest Service stayed on scene to continue burnout operations.