Staff photo by John Rawlston/Chattanooga Times Free Press
Heath Morton, chief ranger of the Dade County unit of the Georgia Forestry Commission, lights a backfire Thursday as he and others battle fires burning for a fourth day on the mountain near Dugan Loop Road in northern Dade County, Ga.More than 900 acres on Tatum Mountain in Dade County, Ga., are still smoldering after firefighters contained a wildfire that ravaged the mountain since Sunday.
Though the fire is contained and firefighters have left the scene, smoke can be expected a little while longer until all flammable material in the area burns off, firefighters said.
“It’s one of the worst fires we’ve seen in the county in eight years,” said Chief Ranger Heath Morton with the Georgia Forestry Commission, which battled the blaze.
No injuries were reported.
Officials believe the fire was set by an arsonist because of the location and condition in which it first flared up. Morton said investigators are looking at a suspect.