Cumming Police launches donation drive for South Georgia wildfire responders

Chief P.J. Girvan’s department turned its headquarters on Veterans Memorial Boulevard into a local drop-off point for crews battling the South Georgia wildfires, giving Forsyth County residents a direct way to help responders working far from home. The appeal comes as Gov. Brian Kemp declared a state of emergency for 91 Georgia counties, a 30-day order tied to fires that had already pushed beyond the state’s five-year average amid extreme drought. The Georgia Forestry Commission also imposed a mandatory burn ban across the lower half of the state, a move officials said was necessary because the fire danger had become unusually hazardous.

The scale of the response explains why even a county-level donation drive matters. FEMA approved Fire Management Assistance Grants for the Highway 82 Fire and the Pineland Road fire after the two blazes had burned more than 11,085 acres of private land and threatened more than 1,050 homes, 50 businesses and community infrastructure. WSB-TV reported that one Clinch County fire had grown to nearly 7,000 acres and was only about 10% contained, while other reports said dozens of homes had been destroyed as crews continued to fight flare-ups across South Georgia.

Residents can drop off donations at the Cumming Police Department, 301 Veterans Memorial Blvd. in Cumming, during office hours Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. The items being requested across Georgia’s wildfire relief drives are practical field supplies: bottled water, hydration packets, Gatorade or other electrolyte drinks, protein bars and other individually wrapped snacks, wet wipes, ChapStick, socks, washcloths, eye drops and Pedialyte. Those are the kinds of basics that help firefighters and emergency workers keep going through long shifts in dry, smoky conditions.

The Cumming effort also fits into a larger relief network already taking shape statewide. Second Harvest of South Georgia said it was accepting donations and serving as a central collection point with Clinch County and Echols County emergency management, a sign that the response is still active and shifting as crews and volunteers try to keep pace with the fires. For Cumming, the drive makes the city police department a link between a fast-growing Forsyth County and a wildfire emergency that is still stretching Georgia’s public-safety resources.