Mississippi Forestry Commission provides update on the Copiah County wildfires

COPIAH, CO. (WLBT) – Leaders at the Mississippi Forestry Commission say the fire is now 100 percent contained.

Wildfires stretched about eight miles across Copiah County, reaching the Gallman and Crystal Springs Exit of Interstate 55.

Saturday, some of those areas were being monitored because of the drought conditions and several hotspots that are still flaring up where the fires happened.

“It started in the median and then it jumped onto the highway. So that’s when we started seeing several different fires,” Shannon Coker said.

Coker, the director of communications at the Mississippi Forestry Commission, described the moment several wildfires broke out, threatening homes and other structures.

“It is really serious, and it only takes an itty bitty spark to start a wildfire,” she said. “If a structure is threatened that means that the wildfires are coming close enough to where they have to be notified and we take precautions in those instances.”

The huge fires charred vegetation, damaged poles, and burned tree logs.

It’s still unclear what caused the wildfires, but Coker says these historic dry months we have experienced in the state can fuel them.

“A cigarette but being thrown out the window, a trailer chain behind a truck, it can be something very simple at this point with these dry conditions,” Coker said.

Although the fire is contained, we’re told Mississippi Highway Patrol is still keeping a close eye out for flare-ups; and Coker says fire crews will be ready to respond.

“We’ve seen over a thousand wildfires since August first that have burned over 16,000 acres. We do our very best here at the Forest Commission and our partners to make sure that we’re trying our best to save structures.”

With little to no rain in the forecast, Coker says there’s a chance we can see even more of these wildfires.

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