Fire Hazard - Extreme

From The Georgia Forestry Commission, their fire hazard map of Georgia.


I don't think I've seen us in purple before, not even in early June when it was not only dry, but also hot. The small amount of rain received twice in the last couple of weeks didn't really make it into Oglethorpe County. We haven't had any rain since early September.

Thursday, and then again Friday, saw WVFD called out twice for a brush fire off of Wire Bridge Road. We're now into deer hunting season, primitive weapons at the moment, and there are plenty of hunters who aren't familiar with the area and its condition.

The predictions are for rain beginning late Monday and lasting into Tuesday, and that will help a lot.

But in the meantime, be very careful.

-Wayne

After the Long Wait, NEWS

My apologies for the lack of posting lately. It's embarrassing to look at the June 23 date of the previous posting, but from midsummer on came a flurry of emergencies and unexpected obligations and so posting has been nonexistent since then. I will be remediating that now. (I would like to remind WVFD and community members that they can send their info or suggestions for a post to me, at hughes@plantbio.uga.edu .)

During the summer a second monthly supplemental training session was established. At first it was on Tuesdays. Good news for those who have night jobs and reserved Thursdays for VFD work: the sessions will now be on Thursday evening.

And that means Thursday Oct 12 at 6:30pm for the next supplementary training session.

We will probably begin preparing to take the Structure Fire course Saturday Nov 4 in Thomson Georgia. We'd also like two more applicants for that, since teams usually number Six, and we currently have Four. Get in touch with Ed Frey at freyinsurance@yahoo.com for more information if you're interested. Structure Fire courses are always fun, and should be taken on an annual basis.

But the crowning achievement came a month ago. Fire Chief Phyllis Jackson and two WVFD firefighters visited Winder Fire Department (Winder GA) and were gifted with 1200 feet of 3" hose. This is an extraordinary donation from the Winder Fire Department. It's a necessity for us, who have a number of structures in the area that really need that kind of output of water if required, and is required for our efforts to reduce the insurance level in the area from Class 9 to Class 8. WVFD thanks the Winder FD for their generosity in this gift, as well as others.

-Wayne