A large pine tree blew over due to high winds late Thursday morning taking down power lines just south of the Batesville Community. The tree broke one power line and broke the power line support at one of the poles. The downed power lines also sparked a small brush fire along GA 197.
Habersham County Fire crews were dispatched to the area of GA 197 and GA 255 shortly before 11:00 a.m. for downed power lines and a fire. The brush fire was quickly extinguished once fire crews arrived on scene and only burned a small area. The downed power lines and fire closed GA 197 for a short period of time.
As a precaution, the Georgia Forestry Commission was dispatched to the scene due to the fire.
The road was reopened but reduced to one lane while HEMC crews worked to restore power to the area.
According to HEMC, the outage has affected approximately 150 customers in the Batesville area. Power should be restored by 3:30 p.m. Thursday afternoon.
