BRANTLEY COUNTY, Ga. — Fire trucks called off the front lines, mismanagement and a lack of preventative measures - that’s the perspective of one firefighter who has been assisting in the response to the Highway 82 Fire, which is ravaging Southeast Georgia.
Only Action News Jax spoke with the firefighter, who asked to remain anonymous.
“Firetrucks full of water, and I mean anywhere from three to thirty just sitting and being told not to do anything,” said the firefighter.
The firefighter claimed that preventative measures like fire breaks aren’t being strategically implemented ahead of the fire’s path.
In some cases, he claimed non-forestry firefighters have been ordered out of the woods.
In one particular incident, he claims crews fighting flames at Stewart and Atkinson Road were called off and told they “should have never been there in the first place”.
“That same head fire is now headed towards Glynn County and has burnt down more homes,” said the firefighter.
Action News Jax brought those concerns to Karen Gleason, who is serving as the Public Information Officer for the Southern Area Incident Management Team, which has assumed control of the response.
“We’re building fire lines around the entire fire. I counted seven different divisions today,” said Gleason. ”So, we have fire engines, tractor plows around the entire perimeter of the fire.”
Gleason acknowledged that, in some cases, crews building lines have been told to back off due to safety concerns resulting from high winds.
As far as the concerns about crews being underutilized or pulled out of the woods, she argued it may come from a lack of understanding of wildfire fighting strategy from firefighters trained to respond to structural fires.
“Most structural firefighters are not comfortable fighting fire in the woods. They don’t have the right gear. They don’t understand the fire behavior,” said Gleason. ”So, our job is to put the fire out. Get it contained and put it out, but it’s to do it safely and that’s what these commanders are focused on doing in their decision making.”
But the firefighter we spoke with said he feels management decisions being made by federal, state and local officials are not putting a high enough value on saving homes.
“With better management, you know, preventative measures and not being reactive, but being proactive in their approach to stopping this fire, less people would be put in a situation that they may never recover from,” said the firefighter.
Gleason said at this point, crews are working 24/7 to get the fire contained.
She added efforts right now are focused on building fire lines on the North and Eastern sides of the fire, with the primary goal of saving lives and homes.
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