“There’s no way to stop this fire,” Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp told reporters after touring the fire lines in the southeast corner of the state. By Friday, two large blazes had destroyed more than 120 homes.
Kemp said state officials believe 87 homes lost this week in rural Brantley County are the most ever destroyed by wildfire in Georgia’s history. A second, larger fire in sparsely populated Clinch and Echols counties near the Florida line took another 35. That one has burned about 50 square miles, twice the size of Manhattan.
Investigators suspect the Brantley County fire started when an aluminum party balloon touched live power lines. The contact created an electrical arc that lit flames on the ground, Kemp said. The blaze covers more than 8 square miles and was 15% contained on Friday, according to the Georgia Forestry Commission. Crews are working on the flanks and the back of it. “Hopefully, we get a change in the weather,” Kemp said.
Evacuations and the fight on the ground
Local officials have ordered evacuations across a widening area almost every day, including Friday. Roughly 200 Brantley County residents have been told to leave, and many of them are left wondering about animals left behind and whether their houses will still be standing. No fire deaths or injuries have been reported in Georgia.
Bulldozer crews are cutting fire breaks around the burning areas. Firefighters from dozens of local agencies have concentrated on saving nearby homes, clearing dry brush and soaking houses and yards with hoses and sprinklers. “We’ve definitely had the local fire guys out there literally hosing stuff down,” said Seth Hawkins, a Georgia Forestry Commission spokesperson sent to the Brantley County fire.
Georgia crews answered 31 new, relatively small fires on Thursday. More than 150 other wildfires are burning across Georgia and Florida, and the smoke has drifted far from the flames, prompting air quality warnings in some cities.
Waiting on rain
Officials say only soaking rain will put out the larger fires. The two big blazes sit in areas with a 20% to 40% chance of showers and possible thunderstorms over the weekend. That could slow them, Hawkins said, but not stop them, and lightning could start new fires. “We’re going to need several inches of rain, and then maybe another blast of several inches, to extinguish this thing,” he said.
Scientists say drought, gusty winds, climate change and dead trees still littering some forests, nearly two years after Hurricane Helene toppled them, have made this spring’s fire threat worse. An unusually large number of wildfires are burning across the Southeast.
A firefighter dies in Florida
In northern Florida, volunteer firefighter James “Kevin” Crews suffered an unspecified medical emergency while suppressing a brush fire, the Nassau County Sheriff’s Office said. He was rushed to a hospital and died Thursday evening. “Kevin was the epitome of courage and dedication,” Hilliard Volunteer Fire Chief Jerry Johnson said in a statement. “His sacrifice will never be forgotten.” Florida firefighters were fighting more than 120 wildfires on Friday, mostly in the northern half of the state.
