Barrow County Emergency Services had their hands full Sunday when crews responded to not one, but four fires across the county.
According to Barrow County Emergency Services Spokesman Lieutenant Steve Rose, two of the fires were structure fires and the other two were debris and woods fires that threatened surrounding structures — additionally, crews also responded to a vehicle fire.
"The fires were on Dee Kennedy Road, Bankhead Highway, McElhannon Road, and Freeman Johnson Road; the car fire was on Loganville Highway," Rose said. "One of the fires was the result of careless illegal burning, and the other fires are under investigation."
No people or crew members were hurt in any of the fires but Rose said it was unusual to have responded to so many fires within less than a day's time.
"It is unusual for us to have responded to four or five fires in a 24-hour time period. Usually, Sundays are typically a lot slower," he said.
No foul play is expected in the fires that remain under investigation, but Rose did say it's possible the warmer, dry weather could have played a part.
"It is possible that since it's been raining for so long, that when the weather finally turns, nice everyone gets outside and wants to do things in the yard... that could have potentially been the cause," Rose said. "One thing we are always going to advise this time of year is to make sure to get a burn permit. That helps us make sure that people are burning at times that it is safe to burn."
Barrow County Captain Scott Dakin mentioned another possible reason for the spike in fire activity: "there's a superstition in emergency services that full moons can make for busy shifts…days like yesterday aren’t going to make that superstition any less believable.”
Chief Alan Shuman said despite the incidents, all crew members performed exceptionally — including some additional help from the Winder Fire Department.
“It is unusual to have so many fires in one day. It can be mentally and physically exhausting, but our men and women performed well," Shuman said. "We’d like to thank the Winder Fire Department for assisting us with two of these fires by providing manpower."
