Two consecutive days of wood fires kept Polk County volunteer firefighters busy as they worked alongside Georgia Forestry Commission personnel to contain the damage.

A large brush fire on Cave Spring-Cedartown Road near the Floyd County line forced authorities to temporarily shut down the road Wednesday afternoon. Polk County Emergency Management Agency Director Randy Lacey said the fire involved about 70 acres. County firefighters helped contain the fire to ensure that nearby homes were not damaged.

The fire-fighting effort was made more difficult by a late afternoon thunderstorm that moved into the area. While that storm dumped a lot of rain over Cedartown around 5 p.m. Wednesday, the area of the fire “only got a drizzle,” Lacey said.

“They said it rained so hard in Cedartown that you couldn’t see anything,” Lacey said. “But the northwest corner of the county is very dry. Even when a thunderstorm comes it, it runs off and doesn’t really soak in.”

Another fire occurred around 2:30 p.m. Thursday a few miles from Wednesday’s fire. Lacey said the fire locations were “coincidental” and did not appear to be connected to the same source.

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