Man in SUV sought as suspect in Georgia wildfires
Assistant Chief Brent Masey of the Highway 58 Fire Department in Harrison, Tenn., looks up as a helicopter carrying fire retardant flies over as Masey keeps watch on a wildfire Thursday in Soddy-Daisy, Tenn.
A helicopter carrying 240 gallons of water takes off to assist in the fire containment efforts Wednesday at Lake Lure, N.C.
An aircraft from the U.S. Forestry Service drops fire retardant on a wildfire burning along the Flipper Bend area of Signal Mountain in Hamilton County, Tenn., Wednesday.
Volunteer firefighter Sheri Torbett of the Sequoyah Volunteer Fire Department uses a leaf blower to turn back approaching flames near the Mowbray Volunteer Fire Hall in Soddy-Daisy, Tenn.
ATLANTA – The search is on for a man in a dark blue SUV last seen where a handful of fires began in Georgia, while authorities in North Carolina said arson was suspected in more than 20 wildfires burning across the state line in a national forest.
At least three arson arrests were previously reported in Tennessee and Kentucky as forests burn around the southern Appalachians.
Law officers in Georgia’s Rabun County suspect that someone started a series of small roadside fires Wednesday that eventually merged into the much larger blazes firefighters were working to contain on Friday, said Justin Upchurch, the county’s assistant fire chief.
The Rabun County sheriff’s office urged people to be on the look-out, saying the SUV was last seen in the area of the fires. The office was more emphatic in a separate Facebook post, asking residents to spread the word “and help us lock this criminal up!!!”
The area is less than 50 miles from North Carolina’s Nantahala National Forest, where more than 20 wildfires that have burned more than 17,000 acres are all “being investigated for suspected arson,” forestry officials announced in a status update.
There were 14 other wildfires burning on Cherokee Nation land in North Carolina, all under investigation by local law enforcement. A fire managers’ update noted the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs is seeking information about fires on Indian lands through an arson hotline.
No arrests in any of these cases were announced, and it’s not known if the suspicious blazes are connected.
Across the South, a relentless drought with no signs of letting up has turned pine trees into matchsticks and forced people to evacuate their homes ahead of fast-moving flames. With humidity so low, the normally lush Appalachians and Great Smoky Mountains had plenty of tinder. Tens of thousands of acres have burned, about a dozen of the largest fires remain uncontained and authorities are bracing for more.
States of emergency were declared in some of the affected areas to facilitate state and federal spending on the response.
More than 5,000 firefighters and support staff from around the nation have joined the effort, said Shardul Raval, director of fire and aviation management for the southern region of the U.S. Forest Service. About 40 aircraft are involved, including three large air tankers flying out of Chattanooga, Tennessee.
The national drought report shows 41.6 million people in parts of 15 Southern states living in drought conditions. The worst is in Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi and Tennessee, but extreme drought also is spreading into the western Carolinas. Kentucky, Tennessee and North Carolina all have fierce fires.
One of the largest blazes was spreading rapidly in the Cohutta Wilderness area just south of the Georgia-Tennessee line. Nearly 300 people are battling that fire, which already consumed about 15 square miles, the Forest Service said.
Smoke from the fires has made North Carolina’s largest city a Code Orange zone for air quality, meaning anyone with breathing problems could suffer. The Charlotte Observer reports that the heavy haze and smoky conditions should make people limit outdoor activities.
That apparently isn’t stopping organizers of this weekend’s Charlotte Marathon. They said Friday that they do not expect the wildfire smoke to impact Saturday’s races, which include a marathon, half-marathon, 5K run/walk, marathon relay and a kids 1-mile fun run.