Lumpkin Co. highway reopens

DAHLONEGA - Lumpkin County fire officials called in reinforcements from around northeast Georgia to help with three large brush fires Thursday afternoon, which caused them to close a section of Highway 19 until into the evening.

Deputy Fire Chief Robert Hughey says the biggest of the fires was on fire was on Highway 19 near Orchard Way.

"It started at the base of the mountain and worked its way up across the highway," Hughey said at mid-afternoon at the height of the fires, "and (is) now on top of the ridge and we've got several agencies here trying to contain the fire."

Firefighters also worked to extinguish a brush fire on Damascus Church Road on the eastern side of the county. And, Hughey says the U.S. Forestry Service conducted a controlled burn on Camp Wasegah Road, but high winds prompted firefighters to keep a closer watch on that blaze.