{"id":14617,"date":"2016-11-21T15:26:39","date_gmt":"2016-11-21T15:26:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/georgiaarsoncontrol.org\/?p=14617"},"modified":"2016-11-21T15:26:39","modified_gmt":"2016-11-21T15:26:39","slug":"church-helps-firefighters-battling-wildfires-in-north-georgia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/georgiaarsoncontrol.org\/?p=14617","title":{"rendered":"Church helps firefighters battling wildfires in north Georgia"},"content":{"rendered":"

(Fox 5<\/a>) \u2013 RABUN COUNTY, Ga.<\/strong> \u2013 When it comes to wildfires, life in the mountains of north Georgia can be nerve racking depending on where you live<\/span><\/span>.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wasn\u2019t worried about it because I live<\/span><\/span> 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,\u201d said lifelong Rabun County resident Bud Lawrence. \u201cWe thought we\u2019d get some rain by now. Now folks, especially the women folk, are getting nervous and wanting to leave just the mountain just in case.\u201d<\/p>\n

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<\/span><\/span> of battling pesky flames and thick smoke. It\u2019s been a challenging task and that\u2019s why volunteers at Liberty Baptist Church are working around the clock to help make the firefighters\u2019 work just a bit easier.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Forest Service tells us what they need and how much they need and we have it ready or we can even deliver it,\u201d said Rev. Scott Cates, Senior Pastor of Liberty Baptist Church.<\/p>\n

Cates told FOX 5\u2019s Portia Bruner the church\u2019s Facebook post requesting firefighter essentials went viral with responses from as far Brazil and West<\/span><\/span> 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.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had a table of folks writing thank you notes. We just want these firefighters who\u2019ve come from as far as California to know how much we appreciate what they\u2019re doing,\u201d said Rev. Cates.<\/p>\n

Watch the report HERE\u203a\u203a<\/a><\/p>\n<\/body>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"