A video grab shows a glimpse of the Fox Mountain fire in Dade County, Ga., near Rising Fawn.
Fire has burned sections of Fox Mountain in Dade County, and is far from contained. Winds ahead of a cold front pushed smoke toward Alabama from Rising Fawn, Ga.The Fox Mountain fire in Dade County, Ga., is 1,700 acres and growing, and the only thing that will stop it is a good soaking, a Georgia Forestry Commission spokeswoman says.
“We’re really going to be fighting this fire until we get some significant rain. That’s just the reality of the situation,” said Joanna Warren, communication and public affairs specialist for the forestry commission.
The blaze has been burning for days on the side of Fox Mountain in Dade County, Ga., near Rising Fawn. On Thursday, the fire crept over the top of the mountain into Alabama, and the Alabama Forestry Commission joined the Georgia Department of Natural Resources and the U.S. Forest Service on the fire lines.
Warren said about 70 people are working at any given time to bulldoze or hand-chop containment lines around the flames, but the fire is only 40 percent contained and it could grow to 1,800 or 1,900 acres.
She said fire crews are monitoring two cabins on the Georgia side and a hunting camp and eight homes on the Alabama side that could be endangered if the wind shifts.
Dade County Sheriff Ray Cross said he’s staying in contact with the fire crews but hasn’t heard of any threats to people or property.
“If anybody was in danger, they would let me know, and they haven’t,” Cross said.
“But we need some rain, bad.”