Finally……………

After 2+ weeks the Honey Prairie Fire in Okefenokee NWR is mostly, and I repeat, mostly under control. There are still occasional flare-ups which the fire crews are handling, but it is now a mopping up operation. The smoke has pretty much dissipated and the sky is clear again!! Yay!!! The damage to structures is none existent other than possibly some overnight canoe platforms that may have burned but we won’t know about those until it is safe to go out in the swamp on the canoe trails again.

I have nothing but praise for all the guys and gals who left their regular jobs and came here, as well as all the professional fire fighters who put their lives on the line to contain this fire to the swamp.

Wildfire fighters have a tradition which is to collect t-shirts from every wildfire they fight. So the “friends of the swamp” known as Okefenokee Wildlife League (OWL) designed and had printed tons of t-shirts depicting the Honey Prairie Fire. Bill and I were tasked to sell these shirts to fire fighters on the west side of the swamp which is a 60+ mile drive from the east side where we live. For the last 2 mornings we have left home before dawn to make the trip around to the west side to be there for the AM briefings and make sure all the guys and gals get a t-shirt for their collections.

Bill talking to one of the many fire fighters.

   

Back of the shirts…..in both gray and black.

        

Front of the shirt.

We are tired but we are going to go again tomorrow as the crews are now changing after 2 weeks and new crews are coming in to take their places. So a whole new group who need t-shirts!

We have met a lot of great people and had the opportunity to thank many of them personally for all their hard work.

Just Us Kids……………..relaxing again in the swamp…..finally!!!