Downed Power Lines Spark Brush Fire

[Henry]

Crews were busy in Fairfax chasing a brush fire Thursday.

Wind knocked over a tree pulling down a Green Mountain Power line in the woods. That sparked the fire that moved quickly across piles of branches that had been cut down earlier. Crews say dry material is at least 6-inches deep fueling the fire and creating hot spots that were tough to get out. Crews used foam to reach the hard to get places.

About 3 acres burned. Some residents in Fairfax and Fletcher lost power for about 2 hours.

[HayesFXFD17]

In true news reporting fashion only a portion of the statement I released was issued:

First off I would like to thank Cambridge Fire for their response as they brought crews, forestry equipment and their Off Road Rescue Four-Wheeler.  This fire was indeed sparked by a tree that had fallen on and broken powerlines.  The fire was located at the end of Fanton Road about another mile into the woods only accessable by foot or four-wheeler.  We deployed our Off Road Rescue Four-Wheeler as well and had personall ATV's brought in by other fire department members.  The fire was initially contained by manually raking and cutting fire lines in the woods.  Once contained we utilized Cambridge forestry equipment to supply water more than a 1000' feet into the woods from a remote location shuttled by our tankers to physcially extunguish the fire.  The extremely dry conditions made the fire difficult to extinguish as it was burning deep into the ground so the introduction of foam applications were applied.  Fairfax and Cambridge crews operated at the scene with nearly 25 firefighters for 4 hours while Georgia Fire Department was on automatic aid for any other calls in the Fairfax Fire District. 

Justin Hayes, CFI
Fairfax Fire Chief

[Rev. Elizabeth]

Thanks, Justin, for the whole story. It seems like a complex and difficult situation handled cooperatively and well!