Growing wildfire that has destroyed nearly 90 homes in Georgia forces new evacuations
NAHUNTA, Ga. (AP) — A forest fire A fire that destroyed dozens of homes in southeast Georgia prompted officials to order more evacuations Friday as the growing blaze threatened a larger area and firefighters helped residents hose down their properties to limit the damage.
The fire, burning in rural Brantley County, has spread more than 20 square kilometers since it ignited Monday, driven by high winds into tinder-dry pine forests. About 90 houses were destroyed, among blackened tree trunks and heat-swollen road signs, some with the scorched shells of abandoned cars lying nearby.
The Georgia Forestry Commission said Friday the fire in Brantley County was 15% contained. Local authorities ordered evacuations in a widening area almost every day, including Friday.
“If you receive a mandatory evacuation notice, we want you to evacuate as quickly as possible,” Brantley County county manager Joey Cason said in a video posted to Facebook Friday. “This limitation can go from 15% to 0% in a matter of minutes with wind.”
Firefighters battle more than 150 people Wildfires in Georgia and Florida It sent smoky fog to areas far from the flames, triggering air quality warnings in some cities.
Scientists say the Eastern United States is at risk of intense wildfire due to factors such as: climate changeDrought and dead trees are still evident in some Southern forests after being devastated by Hurricane Helene in 2024.
Local officials estimate that about 200 Brantley County residents have been ordered to evacuate, leaving those displaced to worry about the animals they left behind and whether they will have homes to return to. No deaths or injuries were reported.
While crews with bulldozers worked to clear firebreaks around burned areas, firefighters from dozens of local agencies focused on protecting nearby homes and other structures by clearing dry brush and using hoses and sprinklers to keep homes and yards wet.
“We certainly had local firefighters there literally hosing things down,” said Seth Hawkins, a Georgia Forestry Commission spokesman dispatched to the Brantley County fire.
Farther west, Georgia’s largest fire, in a sparsely populated area near the Florida state line, burned nearly 50 square miles (129 square kilometers), an area twice the size of Manhattan.
Firefighters in Florida were battling more than 120 wildfires on Friday, mostly in the northern half of the state. Fire crews in Georgia responded to 31 new, relatively small fires on Thursday, the state forestry commission said.
Officials say heavy rain is needed to extinguish larger fires. In areas where two large wildfires are burning in Georgia, the chance of showers and possible thunderstorms over the weekend is between 20% and 40%.
That could produce enough rain to slow large fires, but not extinguish them, Hawkins said. Lightning from thunderstorms could cause more fires, he said.
“We’re going to need a few inches of rain and then maybe another explosion of a few inches to put this thing out,” Hawkins said.
