The Long County division of the Georgia Forestry Commission on Thursday reassumed responsibility for monitoring the remnants of the fire that burned more than 4,000 acres last week in Long County.
Acting Chief Ranger Paul Robertson said the unit will continue to watch the scorched land, extinguish hot spots and maintain the established firebreaks. Robertson said that rehabbing the land also will begin. Rehabbing is a process of repairing and putting the land back the way it was prior to the fire, such as moving dirt and closing in some of the wider fire breaks.
The cause of the fire still is under investigation, Robertson said, but early rumors that an unpermitted burn caused the blaze are untrue. He said that although the cause has not been established yet, it looks like it may have escalated from a fire that occurred two weeks ago on Macon Darien Road.
He said that at that time, a business obtained a permit and began a controlled burn. However, that fire got away from the people conducting the burn, and a forestry unit responded and extinguished the fire. Robertson said that even though the fire appeared to be out, the fire may have rekindled due to extreme dry conditions, causing last week’s fire. He said that has not yet been confirmed though.
Robertson did confirm that 18 buildings were destroyed by last week’s fire. Twelve were structures such as barns and sheds, three were unoccupied deserted or abandoned homes and three were occupied homes. The three occupied homes were located on Mill Pond Road, Chest Nut Lane and Baggs Circle.
Robertson said that in addition to the structures, several vehicles had been destroyed by the fire, but he did not have an exact number.