Wildfires in the Okefenokee
Firef ighters from around the U.S. battle heat, hun
By Julia Regeski
W
ildfires are a fairly common and
natural occurrence in the Okefenokee
Swamp, but after a lightning strike
touched down on April 6 and ignited
a rapidly-spreading fire, county, state and federal
officials needed to step in. In the two months since
the fire began, what’s come to be known as the West
Mims Fire has burned more than 152,000 acres, and
is approximately 85 percent contained.
The fire began within the Okefenokee National
Wildlife Refuge, and over time consumed about 30
percent, or 115,303 acres, of the property, but officials
say that the Okefenokee Swamp is no stranger to
wildfires caused by lightning. It gets up to a dozen
natural fires every year, which indicates a healthy step
in the environment’s lifecycle.
The problem arose when the wildfire jumped swamp
borders and began making its way toward manmade
developments. Despite this widespread growth of the
fire, of the 320 structures threatened, only four were
destroyed. The flames also damaged an estimated
$38 million in commercial and industrial timber.
At the height of the incident, more than 1,000
personnel were fighting the fire around Saint George.
Team members came from a diverse array
of local, state and federal organizations
like the interagency Southern Area Type
1 Incident Management Red Team, the
Georgia Forestry Commission, the U.S. Fish
and Wildlife Service, Florida Forest Service,
the USDA Forest Service and the Charlton
County Emergency Management Agency.
Additionally, more than 730 personnel
provided structural protection against the
blaze, hailing from 105 fire departments, 50
Georgia counties and two Florida counties.
Those on the front lines of the fire came
from every single state in the country as well
as the United States territory of Puerto Rico.
Additionally, every federal agency with a
wildland fire management program was
represented.
On Tuesday, May 9, the Federal Emergency
Management Agency approved a grant to
help the firefighters and those working on the
incident. The funds, which were requested by
GEMA/HS Director Homer Bryson on behalf
of Governor Nathan Deal, are part of the
effort to ensure that those responding have all
the available resources necessary to address
this crisis. The grant will cover 75 percent of
certain firefighting costs in efforts to manage,
mitigate and control the fire.
Firefighting tactics remained mostly
standard during the duration of the fire, as
crews worked diligently to suppress and
Photo by Lisa Rodriguez-Presley
contain the burn in critical areas. Firefighting
efforts stayed focused on two main strategies:
A firefighter pauses to catch her breath after chopping her way to a hotspot.