Georgia Forestry officials said Thursday the fire that consumed more than 260 acres around Cypress Lake is contained, but they are still monitoring it in the event it flares up again.
Byron Haire, spokesman for the Georgia Forestry Commission, said the half-inch of rain Wednesday night helped control the blaze, but there was still a great deal of heat remaining at the burn site.
"We still had some open flames at 10 a.m. (Thursday)," Haire said.
The fire started earlier this week and had burned approximately 267 acres. It burned only 10 more acres on Wednesday as firefighters and Georgia Forestry Commission workers fought to contain the fire.
Even though the fire was fully contained, Haire said they were still carefully monitoring the situation to ensure it doesn't spread.
One of the concerns was the leaves falling onto the fire break area, which could allow the fire to jump the break and begin burning new areas.
"What happens is that there's a lot of residual heat and if you have leaves that fall into those hot spots, it could ignite the dried leaves," Haire said.
While the rain Wednesday helped, high winds helped dry up the moisture from the rain on Thursday, Haire said.
Haire said that even though the fire has been brought under control, residents and others who may be curious to examine the damage should not walk through the area.
"If you step into one of those (heat) pits where a stump has burned down or into a heat pocket, you could get burned pretty severely," he said.
The crew monitoring the site has been downsized considerably from Wednesday, with six firefighters, two engines and a bulldozer on hand to address any problems.
Haire said one area of concern is on what they're calling the "left flank" where there is still a decent amount of area not yet burned before reaching the fire break.
"There's still a good bit of unburned fuel," he said. "It has the potential to burn back up, but if it does burn, it's still inside the fire break."
Byron Haire, spokesman for the Georgia Forestry Commission, said the half-inch of rain Wednesday night helped control the blaze, but there was still a great deal of heat remaining at the burn site.
"We still had some open flames at 10 a.m. (Thursday)," Haire said.
The fire started earlier this week and had burned approximately 267 acres. It burned only 10 more acres on Wednesday as firefighters and Georgia Forestry Commission workers fought to contain the fire.
Even though the fire was fully contained, Haire said they were still carefully monitoring the situation to ensure it doesn't spread.
One of the concerns was the leaves falling onto the fire break area, which could allow the fire to jump the break and begin burning new areas.
"What happens is that there's a lot of residual heat and if you have leaves that fall into those hot spots, it could ignite the dried leaves," Haire said.
While the rain Wednesday helped, high winds helped dry up the moisture from the rain on Thursday, Haire said.
Haire said that even though the fire has been brought under control, residents and others who may be curious to examine the damage should not walk through the area.
"If you step into one of those (heat) pits where a stump has burned down or into a heat pocket, you could get burned pretty severely," he said.
The crew monitoring the site has been downsized considerably from Wednesday, with six firefighters, two engines and a bulldozer on hand to address any problems.
Haire said one area of concern is on what they're calling the "left flank" where there is still a decent amount of area not yet burned before reaching the fire break.
"There's still a good bit of unburned fuel," he said. "It has the potential to burn back up, but if it does burn, it's still inside the fire break."
