Oklahoma Wildland Firefighters Battling Georgia Wildfires

A crew of Oklahoma wildland firefighters was dispatched Monday to assist Georgia wildland firefighters in containing wildfires in the Chattahoochee National Forest and surrounding areas.

The Oklahoma crew is made up of 20 Bureau of Indian Affairs firefighters from the Osage Nation, Okmulgee Agency, Wewoka Agency and Chickasaw Agency, according to the BIA Forestry & Wildland Fire Management Eastern Oklahoma Region.

The crew is currently assigned to the Strawberry Mountain fire in Walker County, Georgia but are available to respond to any new, high-priority fires in the southeastern US, BIA officials said.

Their fire assignment will last two to three weeks, depending on fire activity.

As of October 7, 2016, the Strawberry Mountain wildfire was approximately 477 acres and was 70 percent contained, according to the USDA Forest Service.