Elbert Road Fire contained at 183 acres; county highlights mutual aid and mitigation steps

A wildfire that began March 3 just south of the town of Elbert burned 183 acres across two parcels before containment, Elbert County emergency management officials reported at the March 12 Board of County Commissioners meeting.

Erin Boren, director of emergency management for Elbert County, said the fire started at about 3:04 p.m. east of the 23000 block of Elbert Road and spread rapidly because of steep terrain, grass and timber fuels and high winds. “Life safety was addressed. We were able to protect the town,” Boren said, and she credited mutual aid, school-district buses on standby and county assets for avoiding structure losses.

“The fire was quickly growing, so there was an air-asset request,” Boren said, but high winds forced flight crews to decline air operations. The county instead relied on mutual-aid strike teams and ground resources; officials gave Elbert Fire Chief Bridal Homer primary incident-command credit for early coordination.

Monty Hankins, director of public works and road and bridge, described how county graders and an 8,000‑gallon tanker staged at Elizabeth High School supported firefighting efforts. Hankins said road and bridge crews cut containment lines with graders operating in pairs so a disabled grader can be recovered safely; he said that strategy and the firefighters’ ground work allowed responders to contain the blaze in roughly two to two-and-a-half hours. “By the time you get the two blade wide fire line cut, it is approximately 30 feet wide,” Hankins said.

Initial size estimates fluctuated—county personnel reported 300, 350 and 600 acres at different points—before a final accounting of 183 acres across two parcels, officials said. After the fire, a winter storm and 75‑mph winds affected the region; the storm later helped extinguish remaining hot spots, Boren said. The high winds also toppled about 55 electric poles in the Simla area, prompting coordinated mass‑care work with Simla Fire and Mountain View Electric Association.

County officials used the meeting to highlight two mitigation and preparedness items. Boren announced “Mulch Madness,” a free event for Elbert County residents on April 5 at the fairgrounds where citizens can bring organic slash and debris for chipping; Mountain View Electric Association will provide grinders. Boren framed the event as a wildfire‑mitigation tactic to reduce fuels.

Separately, commissioners approved the county’s Debris Management Plan (see related article). County staff said the fairgrounds are listed among primary and secondary debris‑collection sites in the plan and that the plan will be updated and refined if the fairgrounds feasibility study recommends other uses.

County leaders thanked mutual‑aid partners for the response and acknowledged lingering cleanup needs. Boren said staff would follow up on operational lessons and on requests from affected towns.