Please note the date this missive was written: June 2, 2007. This was before the huge wildfire that sprouted up the first week of July 2007. It's a very serious fire, and my prayers are with the firefighters and all those affected.
Despite the lack of media attention, those of us in southeast Georgia have been dealing with a huge wildfire since mid-April. We finally got some rain late last night, and it's still raining now. It's the most beautiful sight we've seen here in a long time.
We may not be California or Florida, but our fire was just as large and just as serious (if not more so). I'm not saying that we wanted the media attention because we would have rather not had the fire nor the cameras in our faces as we dealt with our increasing losses. However, the attitude that our fire wasn't important or serious enough to warrant concern by the media really chaps my hide. A little brush fire (in comparison to this one in Georgia) sparks up in California, and the nationwide media coverage permeates the airwaves and Internet immediately, but our larger and rarer southeast Georgia fire gets a brief one-time also-mention? Our fire spreads to Florida and suddenly people want to know what's going on, but only about Florida coping with the fire?
Give me a f**king break!
Waycross and the surrounding towns have had to deal with dense acrid smoke, evacuations, highway and road closures, respiratory ailments, property loss, and the extended stress of helplessness as the fire slowly encroached as an irresistable force toward precious historical landmarks, homes, and businesses.
God bless the firefighters and the people who came together to support them. The copious contributions from people were swift and abundant. The Waycross community united in such a way that I have to say I'm proud to be a citizen of this town.
