New details on the end of the Rough Ridge/Cohutta Wilderness fire

ELLIJAY, Georgia (WDEF) – Ellijay officials got a briefing from the U.S. Forestry Service this week on the end of the Rough Ridge fire in the Cohutta Wilderness.

This has been the major smoke producer in our region over the last few weeks, but it is finally winding down.

Here are some new details about the fire and how they fought it.

— The last two sections of the fire should burn out by Thursday, the last day of major smoke production.

They hope the fire will burn itself out by this weekend.

— The fire was started by a lightning strike weeks/month ago that could have smoldered for awhile before catching fire.

— By forest service policy, they don’t put out these natural wildfires, they let them burn themselves out, just contain it.

— Despite the massive fire & smoke, only 2% of the trees were actually lost. It mainly burned leaves and the forest floor.

— The entire burned area in the heart of the Cohutta Wilderness will remain closed to the public until early Spring.

One Gold Team (firefighter) member’s view of the fire as he wraps up his stay here.

@t0nytiger

Our last day on shift. I don’t know about everyone else but I’m ready for some #R&R back home. #Ledzeppelin #StairwayHeaven #OnAssignment #SoutherHospitality #Work #Georgia #SouthernCharm #OnAssignment #WildHeart #Trees #ForestFires #Nature #EastCoast #DirtySouth #GeorgiaDays #WildlandMountainMan #AxMan #Instagram #Woods #Forest #Internet #Fire #IntoTheWild #WorkFlow #GeorgiaOnMyMind #BlueRidge #Mountains #TreeHugger #Georgia

For perspective, the Cohutta fire burned about 10 times the amount of acres as any of the Signal or Lookout Mountain fires.