Brush Fire, 10 August

May you live in interesting times!

This was the setting at 3pm yesterday when we got the pageout along with all other 13 VFDs in Oglethorpe County. Extensive brush fire near Vesta, everyone come to the party! BYOW! Well, we've got lots of W, 2500 gallons of it. I got to the station first this time, and had the tanker out and running. I was just locking everything up when Ed and Scott arrived, and off we went.

I wish I had taken the camera, now. It was indeed extensive, burning most of the length along the north side of Veribest Enterprise Road in northeast Oglethorpe County, and deep into the woods. That part of the county is probably 15 miles northeast of us, and the most distant fire we've been to so far.

We turned onto V-E Road and were directed all the way down to the other end, at the cemetary, where Vesta VFD had set up Incident Command for the VFDs. Lisa was already there, and had been for some time, running water up and down the road for rehab. The IC from Vesta directed us to pull up behind that li'l white truck there, and sit tight, after informing us of the location of the nearest hydrant (three miles away!). Andy arrived shortly after we got there, and The Unknown Firefighter was on his way.

At this point Georgia Forestry Commission had the fire mainly under control, and our role, as well as that of the other VFDs, was support if needed. We were there to provide water, and indeed did fill up one truck. Most of the other pumpers and knockers were targetted to houses in the area to protect them if necessary.

And then along about 7pm we were released and back home we went, stopping along the way to top off the tank and get gas.

A few observations:

We have *got* to get the Wolfskin name on the trucks!

I don't know when or how the fire started. The burn was so extensive it must have been involved for a considerable period of time. The part we could see looked basically like the results of a controlled burn - groundcover burned off but trees generally unharmed. (I'm not saying that that was the cause, but that the aftermath was what I've seen after controlled burns.)

As far as I can tell there was at least one truck from every VFD in the county. Plus EMS, Sheriff, and GA Forestry crew. Yet traffic along the road was well controlled and nondisruptive.

GA Forestry is superb. They had a spotter plane circling over all afternoon, presumably providing observations to the ground.

Residents of the area continually moved up and down the road offering water. Finally, a legitimate use for ATVs: water delivery. At less extensive fires there is normally a rehab station (and there probably was one here too), but in this case rehab came to us at regular intervals.

Apparently the fire was significant enough to have made the news earlier. One of us had actually heard about it on the radio and not his pager, and dropped by just as we were leaving the station.

The fire could have been much, much worse, given our past week of elevated temperatures and lack of rain since late July. There could have been wind. I'd have to attribute successful control to what I saw as very well-coordinated and competent firefighting. Coordination among 14 VFDs and Forestry is not necessarily an easy thing! Vesta VFD's Wayne Wallace did a great job.

Apparently no one got hurt, and it is possible to function at 107 degF!

*****I don't do this very often, because it seems unseemly to me, but occasionally I like to point out that every time we train or go out on a call we think about our Wolfskin neighbors who have generously supported us. On a day like yesterday, it's worth noting that every firefighter's eyes track that supertanker when it goes past. I'm not kidding you one bit. And it's not very often that we don't have a number of folks asking questions about it. WVFD has periodically been paged specifically for that supertanker, with its 2500 gallons of water. It is quite a resource, and the only one of its kind in the Oglethorpe County, so far! So once again, and I think I speak for my fellows, thanks to the Wolfskin residents for supporting us the way you have. We're very proud of you. ******

--Wayne