Video from one of our GFC #wildland #firefighters of the #WestMims #wildfire in the #Okefenokee. @FLForestService @USFWSFireSE pic.twitter.com/glisvZyKTC
— GAForestryCommission (@GaTrees) May 10, 2017
As firefighters on the ground continue efforts to get a handle on the West Mims Fire on the Georgia-Florida border, the attack from the air has intensified.
More than 700 personnel are assigned to the country’s largest and most actively burning wildfire, which remains just 12 percent contained after having burned about 144,000 acres as of Thursday morning.
The Very Large Air Tanker (VLAT), a DC-10 fitted with a retardant delivery system, arrived Tuesday afternoon but was only able to make one fire retardant drop before low visibility due to settling smoke made subsequent air operations unsafe, officials said.
The aircraft made two 12,000-gallon retardant drops on Wednesday. Extreme conditions are expected to continue through the rest of the week, with temperatures approaching 100 degrees and winds gusting to 20 mph forecast — Red Flag Warnings are also expected to be issued in the area.
Bringing in the big guns at the #WestMims #wildfire! pic.twitter.com/ffHpfai9eH
— GAForestryCommission (@GaTrees) May 10, 2017
