FLOYD COUNTY, Ga. — Crews contained a wildfire that forced the evacuation of more than two dozen homes in Floyd County Sunday.
Officials said the fire started around 12:30 p.m. and spread fast, thanks to wind and dry conditions. It broke out near Georgia Highway 156, or New Rosedale Road, in the Armuchee community. Fire crews told Eric Clemmons and his neighbors along Southern Woods Drive to prepare for evacuation after the flames jumped across Highway 156.
“All of a sudden, I was in the backyard and then I heard a lot of popping and crackling, and then when I looked up, it was fire and blazes and fire trucks everywhere and it got kind of ugly,” he said.
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Officials said the flames damaged a mobile home along a private road and destroyed an outbuilding. Nobody was hurt.
Davis Brooks and his daughters were trying to get back home when fire crews stopped them, saying they were not allowed in. After about two hours, he said, they were given the go-ahead. Fire blackened a large swath of his backyard and burned away a wooden fence.
“I feel very lucky because it got within 100 feet of the house,” he said. “I feel very lucky.”
His biggest concern was for the cat he left home alone. Both cat and house made it through unscathed. “I just thank the fire department and all my neighbors,” he said. “They’ve been nice to me.”
Crews from the Georgia Forestry Commission used bulldozers to dig containment lines around the fire. A plane and helicopter also poured water on the flames.
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Safeguarding homes and property were the prime concern for fire crews. That involved spraying water on the ground.
“And wet around the houses and protect houses, then we rely mostly on forestry to cut breaks to stop or contain the fire,” said Battalion Chief Roger Haggard of the Rome-Floyd Fire Department.
He said the fire started near a home, but the cause remains under investigation.
Rain was in the forecast overnight and into Monday morning, and officials said that would douse any lingering embers. With the wind dying down and the fire mostly extinguished, they said no homes and property were threatened.
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