Perdue released $7 million to fight fires

Morris News Service
ATLANTA -- The state will send an extra $7 million to help fight the wildfires in south Georgia, Gov. Sonny Perdue announced Friday.
Perdue signed an executive order releasing unused money from the Department of Revenue to the Georgia Emergency Management Agency and the Georgia Forestry Commission.
“These additional funds will allow the communities to continue fighting the fires and assist in their recovery,” Perdue said in a news release. “Because we budgeted conservatively, we are now able to release these funds to assist the emergency facing those in southeast Georgia.”
More funding could be made available if the $7 million isn’t enough, Perdue Press Secretary Bert Brantley said.
The move comes the same day Morris News Service reported that the Georgia Forestry Commission, the state agency charged with monitoring and putting out wildfires in Georgia, has received lower appropriations in recent years than agency officials had requested.