(Fox 5) – RABUN COUNTY, Ga. – When it comes to wildfires, life in the mountains of north Georgia can be nerve racking depending on where you live.
“I wasn’t worried about it because I live on this side of the Mountain, but my neighbors on the other side of the mountain stay up night after night worried about their homes,” said lifelong Rabun County resident Bud Lawrence. “We thought we’d get some rain by now. Now folks, especially the women folk, are getting nervous and wanting to leave just the mountain just in case.”
FOX 5 spotted a few deputies, U.S. Forest Rangers and firefighters at the base of the mountain in Tiger, Georgia Monday afternoon, regrouping after days of battling pesky flames and thick smoke. It’s been a challenging task and that’s why volunteers at Liberty Baptist Church are working around the clock to help make the firefighters’ work just a bit easier.
“The Forest Service tells us what they need and how much they need and we have it ready or we can even deliver it,” said Rev. Scott Cates, Senior Pastor of Liberty Baptist Church.
Cates told FOX 5’s Portia Bruner the church’s Facebook post requesting firefighter essentials went viral with responses from as far Brazil and West Germany. Now the church is filled with enough cough drops, hand sanitizer, wet wipes, and other goodies to make hundreds of bags that get picked up by or delivered to firefighters in Georgia and North Carolina each morning. A personalized thank you note is also added to each bag.
“We had a table of folks writing thank you notes. We just want these firefighters who’ve come from as far as California to know how much we appreciate what they’re doing,” said Rev. Cates.
Watch the report HERE››
