Despite recent rainfall, wildfire danger remains high, officials say

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  • Megan Broome/The Clayton Tribune. Wiley Perreault, 10, poses with Smokey Bear at Wander North Georgia on Monday. Representatives of the Georgia Forestry Commission walked around downtown Clayton to educate the community on fire risk during a drought and how to prevent wildfires.
    Megan Broome/The Clayton Tribune. Wiley Perreault, 10, poses with Smokey Bear at Wander North Georgia on Monday. Representatives of the Georgia Forestry Commission walked around downtown Clayton to educate the community on fire risk during a drought and how to prevent wildfires.
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Despite a forecast of rain in the next few days, conditions in the Chattahoochee-Oconee National Forest are very dry and the fire danger is high, forestry officials say.  

“If a fire did get started, it would be difficult to maintain and it would take a lot of manpower [to put it out],” said Shawn Alexander, fire prevention team member for the U.S. Forest Service.

The U.S. Forest Service put together a fire prevention team to educate the public on some of the causes of wildfires.

“We’re a team of fire prevention educators,” said Mark Wiles, wildfire prevention specialist for the Georgia Forestry Commission.

Wiles said that the Forest Service is a federal organization while the Georgia Forestry Commission is a state organization.

Wiles said that the purpose of the team is to express the importance of being cautious with campfires and other potential wildfire hazards.

The team is composed of U.S. Forest Service and Forestry Commission employees.

“Our task it just to communicate the fire risk in Georgia,” Alexander said.

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