Firefighters from Habersham County Emergency Services and other agencies responded to more than a half-dozen fires spread across the county on Saturday, March 1.
According to Habersham County Public Information Officer Rob Moore, most of the fires resulted from people who started controlled burns despite a burn ban in place.
The fire calls began coming in around noon on Saturday and stretched from Broken
Arrow Lane in the Amy’s Creek community, Ridge Road off Sam Bell Road, and the
shoulders of GA 17 near Winding Stair subdivision on the county’s west end to small
fires on GA 197 near Cody Road, and on Chattahoochee Way off Pea Ridge outside
Cornelia.
Those fires followed about ¼-acre fire outside Mt. Airy that spread onto U.S. Forest Service
property on Friday, and a smoldering stump outside Cornelia from a fire earlier in the
week.
In a couple of cases, firefighters kept flames from reaching homes near the fires. One of
those endangered homes was in the Amy’s Creek community on Saturday.
Units from other city departments and Lee Arrendale State Prison Fire Department’s fire team assisted on some of the calls.
Habersham County Emergency Services officials join the Georgia Forestry Commission
and others in reminding property owners and tenants there should be no outdoor
burning of any type until the burn ban is lifted, and dry conditions improve with
substantial rainfall.
“Burn permits have not been issued over the weekend due to extremely low humidity, nor
were they issued Monday, March 3,” Moore said.
If burn permits are available, they may be obtained at GeorgiaBurnPermits.com
generally around 8 a.m. and are valid until dusk. No burning after dark is allowed.
