Wildfire — Towns, Georgia

2016-12-01 to 2016-12-15 · Towns, Georgia

Event narrative

On November 11th a human caused wildfire erupted along the border between Towns and Rabun Counties. Before the Rocky Mountain wildfire was declared contained on December 15th it had consumed 1,851 acres in the eastern portion of Towns County. In total, this wildfire burned nearly 25,000 acres of Chattahoochee National Forest and state and private forest land in Georgia and Tennessee. More tham $11 million federal dollars were expended fighting this wildfire, nearly $900,000 in Towns County alone.

Wider weather episode

Throughout the spring, summer and autumn, north Georgia saw an extended period of below normal rainfall. By late summer and early fall all of north Georgia was experiencing severe, extreme or exceptional drought conditions. As summer vegetation began to die off and autumn leaves began falling from the trees, the continued extremely dry conditions led to very dangerous wildfire conditions. From early October through November and into December, numerous wildfires erupted across north and central Georgia including 3 major wildfires covering multiple thousands of acres apiece in the north Georgia mountains. By the end of December, over $20 million dollars in federal funds had been spent fighting wildfires across north Georgia in the Chattahoochee National Forest and on surrounding federal and state lands.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 666250. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.