SC.GOV: The Official Web site of the State of South Carolina

(Columbia, SC)  The South Carolina Forestry Commission is sending seven of its firefighters to assist Georgia officials in their fight against a major wildfire.

The SC crews met in Walterboro at noon and departed South Carolina shortly thereafter.  Dispatched under a multi-state agreement (the Southeastern Compact), these crews may spend up to two weeks on this assignment.  This is a major sacrifice not only for the dispatched Forestry Commission personnel themselves, but also their families.

 According to forestry officials in Georgia, the fires have scorched an area 11 miles long and one mile wide and are spreading into the Okefenokee Swamp.  Rough terrain and heavy fuels (foliage) prompted the request for not only personnel, but also some of the SC Forestry Commission’s heavier equipment.  Several homes are destroyed and about 1,000 homes and the Okefenokee Swamp Park itself have been evacuated.  Smoke is being seen as far away as Jacksonville, Florida.