Portions of Ware and Pierce counties are among the locations in Southeast Georgia that currently have extreme drought conditions, the National Weather Service said last week.
The northern parts of Ware and Pierce are joined by all of Bacon County and areas in Atkinson, Appling, Coffee and Wayne counties in the extreme category. All of Southeast Georgia has severe drought conditions, the NWS said.
The NWS said the area’s precipitation deficit was nearly 10 inches at the time of the advisory. Since then, some precipitation had fallen across the area.
That came in intermittent showers in the early morning hours of February 11 and just before midnight February 12. A thunderstorm February 15 followed by showers later that evening dropped about an inch of rain on the area, the NWS said.
The drought conditions sparked recent wildfires in Brantley County. Those weekend blazes were part of 118 reported by the Georgia Forest Commission that burned more than 1,000 acres statewide.
Personnel from the Ware County Fire Department fought numerous fires at the end of January and earlier this month resulting from downed power lines fueled in part by the dry conditions brought on by freezing temperatures with Winter Storm Gianna.
The drought conditions have created a very high risk for wildfires in the area necessitating extreme caution with any activity that could cause random sparks.
Most wildfires are caused by humans, and that chance is heightened by the lack of rain and drier-than-normal vegetation.
In order to limit the chance of fires in these conditions, people should:
• Refrain from burning any brush or yard debris until significant precipitation lessens the drought conditions;
• Avoid driving on or parking over dry grass;
• Check trailer chains and other equipment that could hit pavement and emit a spark;
• Keep grills, smokers and firepits on gravel or paved surfaces only;
• Completely extinguish all fires so ashes are cold to the touch;
• Follow all burn bans and city/county fire restrictions.
One random spark can lead to a multi-fire event, officials said.
