Wildfires Destroy More Than 120 Homes in Southeast Georgia

Two wildfires in south Georgia have destroyed more than 120 homes and burned roughly 40,000 acres, and officials warned Saturday that strong winds could push the flames further, CBS News and the Associated Press reported.

Brantley County Manager Joey Cason called it a “dynamic situation” and urged residents to “please evacuate” when ordered. “Leave the scene. This fire is moving at a fast pace and we do not have much control over where it’s currently moving,” he said at a Saturday afternoon news conference, according to CBS News. New evacuation orders were issued as the flames spread, and new fires sparked overnight in rural south Georgia.

The Highway 82 Fire in Brantley County has burned since Monday and has destroyed at least 87 homes, the AP reported. Gov. Brian Kemp said Friday it is the most homes lost to a single wildfire in the state’s history. Officials said the fire began when a foil balloon landed on live power lines; the resulting electrical arc ignited material on the ground, the AP reported. CBS News described the balloon as a party balloon. The AP put the fire at about 9,500 acres and about 10 percent contained.

A second blaze, the Pineland Road Fire in Clinch and Echols counties near the Florida line, has destroyed at least 35 homes, according to CBS News and the AP. CBS News put it at nearly 32,000 acres and about 10 percent contained as of Saturday midday; the AP’s figure was closer to 30,000 acres. Authorities said it was started by sparks from a welding operation. Kemp said, according to CBS News, that federal authorities consider the two fires the “two most dangerous, biggest, problematic fires anywhere” in the country. “We need a change in the weather, but until we get that, we’re just going to stay after these fires,” he said, according to CBS News.

Firefighters are also fighting more than 150 other wildfires across Georgia and Florida, sending smoke into distant cities and triggering air quality warnings, both outlets reported. The AP said an unusually large number of fires are burning across the Southeast this spring. Scientists attribute the threat to a combination of extreme drought, gusty winds, climate change, and dead trees still on the ground in some forests after Hurricane Helene in 2024, the AP reported.

No fire deaths or injuries have been reported in Georgia, the AP said. In northern Florida, a Nassau County Sheriff’s Office volunteer firefighter died Thursday evening after suffering an unspecified medical emergency while suppressing a brush fire. CBS News said fire activity was expected to remain extremely high through the weekend.