Fresh Loaf

OBAMA: Getting snarkier, outspending Clinton 2-to-1 on TV ads in Pa. on Primary Eve.

GRACE UNDER FIRES: Okefenokee Swamp open, still recovering from last year’s forest fires; boat tours survey remaining damage.

A NICE METH YOU’VE GOTTEN ME INTO: CNN reporter arrested in Central Park with meth in his pocket while returning to his hotel room with friends.

THE TRIALS OF ABRAHAM: Smitten DOT commish to announce today whether she plans to stay in her post, will then be voted in or out by the board.

KATHRYN JOHNSTON SHOOTING: Jury selection for Arthur Tesler’s trial begins today.

THE NEGOTIATOR: Jimmy Carter gets Hamas to agree to hypothetical peace deal, gets snubbed by Israelis.

HAWKS: Lose Game 1 handily.

JUNK FEUD: NBA players LeBron James and DeShawn Stevenson hold proxy feud via rappers Jay-Z and Soulja Boy.

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The news out of Waycross a day or so ago was that the so-called Georgia Bay wildfire — the source of the morning haze and lovely campfire odor in Atlanta over the holiday weekend — was completely contained. What a relief that’s over, right? Well, not quite. First off, the news was slightly inaccurate. The fire was only 85 percent contained, as the Georgia Forestry Commission subsequently corrected. But, more importantly, contained is not the same as controlled.

Last Thursday, I visited the amusingly named Joint Information Center — a communications command post staffed by employees of various state agencies from Georgia and Florida — in downtown Waycross, where I received a crash course in Wildfire 101.

For starters, I discovered that no one down there is talking about actually putting the fires out. That’s because a very large portion of the fire is inside the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge, which straddles the state line. Because fire is a natural part of a forest’s life cycle, the standard policy is to let wilderness areas burn. Also, it would be very difficult to get firefighting equipment into such a soggy, remote wilderness area. Therefore, the focus has been on keeping the fire contained inside the Okefenokee and battling it only when it intrudes onto private land. I was told several times by different experts that the only thing that could put the fires out is a significant rainfall. When that might happen is anyone’s guess.

And even then, the fire won’t go completely out, I was told. Because the soil inside the Okefenokee has a high organic content, similar to compost, the fire can continue to smolder and spread below ground, causing new outbreaks when it hits unburned areas.

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