In a heart-pounding scene late Friday morning, Augusta resident Daniel Sipocz was one of several who attempted to subdue a brush fire that threatened the safety of the Haynes Station neighborhood.
The fire, which reportedly broke out around 11 a.m., quickly spread across the backyards of homes located on Goodale Drive, burning a total of 3.8 acres.
According to Sipocz, he and several of his neighbors tried to stop the fire. Sipocz said he used two fire extinguishers followed by an outdoor water hose.
“This isn’t like it is on TV or movies, it was, you know, real, real life. Split second decisions,” Sipocz said, recounting the situation hours after the fire was out.
“It’s one of those things of, until you’re in that situation, you just don’t have an idea,” he added.
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Wildfire season in Georgia
Concerns were raised by some that the local fire department’s response time was too slow — a provided report shows that Augusta Fire/EMA was contacted at 11:05 a.m. and responded to the scene at 11:18 a.m. — but Sipocz and partner Jessica Freeman, who brought home a new baby to their Goodale Drive residence just days before the incident, said a fire inspector shed light on potential reasons for the delay.
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According to Freeman, a fire inspector informed the couple that Augusta Fire/EMA responded to multiple similar fires on Feb. 28, potentially creating slower response times. One such fire was responded to at 4:25 p.m. that same day by The Richmond County Sheriff’s Office, where the 3500 block of Milledgeville Road was also hit with a brush fire.
“He said that they had been out fighting several fires of the same nature,” said Freeman.
Per The Georgia Emergency Management and Homeland Security Agency, the state of Georgia’s wildfire season lasts from February through May, when conditions are particularly dry and windy.
A close call
Freeman said that the fire nearly reached her and Sipocz’s bedroom window, and that she is grateful for the circumstances that allowed their neighborhood to come out on the other side of the fire without any injuries or lost homes.
“We felt very much like the universe, somebody, was watching over us,” she said.
