ALAPAHA, Ga. (WALB) - Several South Georgia fire departments responded to an early morning fire at a sawmill in Alapaha on Monday, June 23.

At Dupoint Pine Sawmill, fire crews have been battling a fire since 12:30 am. Now, the fire is contained to sawdust and piles of scrapped lumber.

The fire started right after midnight, and from there, Berrien County Fire Department arrived on the scene to fight it. The main things on fire were a pile of leftover sawdust and lumber. The facilities processed lumber wasn’t affected.

Due to the dry weather and wind the fire was very intense, according to Berrien County Fire Chief Marc Mathis. They also had initial water problems where additional water had to be trucked in.

“It was a well-involved fire. We knew we were gonna have some struggles, but we’ve managed to overcome most of it at this time,” Chief Mathis said.

Berrien County was able to use the Georgia Mutual Aid Agreement, which allows other fire departments to come and assist on the fire. Crews from Cook, Coffee, Enigma, Valdosta, Tift, and other surrounding departments drove to help contain the flames.

“We appreciate all the help we’ve received and we thank the multiple to coming to our call for help,” said Chief Mathis.

Chief Mathis asks that everyone be more aware when on the road.

As of right now, Chief Mathis told WALB that the fire is fairly contained and they are not worried about it spreading, but there are still some hotspots.

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