By Friday of last week, tips from concerned residents led Paulding County Investigators to the cause of what became a 120-acre wildfire, which started near the Paulding County Airport on Tuesday morning. Four juveniles, ranging in age from 7 to 13 years old, had been playing with a lighter in a wooded area and lit dried leaves on fire. Despite their efforts to extinguish the blaze, it quickly spread as a result of the extremely dry conditions.
Just prior to last week’s incident, and due to severely dry conditions and extreme fire danger, Paulding County had extended its outdoor burning ban indefinitely.
Exceptional drought conditions expanded across northwest Georgia with severe to extreme conditions present in other parts of the state and the National Weather Service issued a High Fire Danger statement again with warnings that humidity and rain conditions were unlikely to improve in the long range.
Paulding County Fire and Rescue (PCFR) and the Georgia Forestry Commission (GFC) were initially called in on Tuesday to battle a wildfire encompassing as many as 20 acres. The fire was producing a large amount of smoke visible to residents in the western part of Paulding County near Dallas, Yorkville, and Rockmart. Schools were closed that day due to the election.
The affected area was largely rural and no homes or other structures were in immediate danger. GFC tractors were used to reinforce fire breaks plowed around the fire’s perimeter. Wind continued to spread heavy smoke across many parts of western Paulding County. The fire, reportedly grew to 50 acres, but was contained and remained under control inside breaks plowed by GFC tractors. GFC then performed back-burning operations to eliminate remaining fuel inside the perimeter.
Wind conditions were favorable for fire suppression, and it was anticipated by Wednesday evening that further spread unlikely. PCFD and GFC crews remained on the scene off Hwy 278 (near the Paulding County airport) to monitor fire lines through the evening. But gusty winds succeeded in pushing the fire across breaks cut Wednesday evening, extending the burned area to roughly 120 acres.
GFC tractors were used to construct secondary breaks and were supported by water tankers and personnel from Paulding Fire. No structures were immediately in danger. Residents in the area were told to expect persistent smoky conditions through the evening hours. Based on their ages, names of the youths were not being released. However, PCFR will be enrolling the four individuals and their families in the Youth Fire-setter and Intervention Program (YFIP). The program, which is court sanctioned and can be court mandated, is sponsored by the Georgia Public Safety Training Center and the Georgia Firefighter’s Burn Foundation, according to information provided in a press release by Lieutenant Steve Mapes, public information officer, Paulding County Fire and Rescue.
According to the press release “...children are responsible for 46 percent of all fires deliberately set in the United States and one in four fire deaths is attributed to children playing with fire. Nearly 80,000 structure fires, 300 deaths and more than 1.2 billion dollars in property damage were caused by children last year. And, more than 50 percent of arson arrests nationally are juveniles....”

Photos: (submitted, Paulding County Fire and Rescue)