Wildfires burning across parts of northern Florida and southeast Georgia have destroyed at least 120 homes and forced evacuations, officials said Friday, as firefighters worked to protect remaining structures and crews battled dozens of additional blazes in both states.
In northern Florida, the Nassau County Sheriff’s Office said volunteer firefighter James “Kevin” Crews died Thursday evening after he suffered an unspecified medical emergency while suppressing a brush fire. The sheriff’s office said Crews was rushed to a hospital, and his death was also reported in a news release posted on social media. Hilliard Volunteer Fire Chief Jerry Johnson said in a statement that “Kevin was the epitome of courage and dedication,” adding that “His sacrifice will never be forgotten.”
In Georgia, Gov. Brian Kemp said that state officials believe a wildfire in rural Brantley County has destroyed 87 homes this week, the most homes damaged by a single wildfire in Georgia’s history, he said while touring the area. Kemp added that an additional 35 homes have been lost to a larger wildfire burning in sparsely populated Clinch and Echols counties near the Florida state line.
Kemp said investigators suspect the Brantley County fire was sparked by a foil party balloon that touched live power lines, creating an electrical arc that ignited the ground. He said investigators suspect the larger blaze began with a man welding a gate outside, with the fire later spreading over an estimated 50 square miles (129 square kilometers).
The Georgia Forestry Commission said the Brantley County blaze was 15% contained on Friday and that about 4,000 homes in the county were under evacuation orders, according to Seth Hawkins, a spokesperson for the commission. Kemp said firefighters were also dealing with a spreading perimeter that, without rain, could remain difficult to stop because crews were containing the “flanks and the back of it” while waiting for weather changes.
The fires are unfolding amid conditions that officials say are leaving the region primed for rapid growth. The Associated Press reported that scientists say the threat has been amplified by extreme drought, gusty winds, climate change and dead trees still littering some forests after being toppled by Hurricane Helene in 2024.
Residents described how quickly the flames upended daily routines. Michael Gibson said that after his fiancée called him Thursday to urge him to come home, by the time he arrived firefighters were already on the road near where he and his fiancée and their four children lived. Gibson said he tried to salvage belongings after moving his family to safety, but police stopped him; he said the fire consumed his mobile home and one beside it where his fiancée’s brother lived, and that the family had been staying in a camper on a relative’s property. “We’ve lost everything, but I’m one of the lucky ones,” Gibson said Friday, adding, “We’ve been prepared to leave.”
Jennifer Murphy said she had little time to react when firefighters arrived at her door in the Brantley County community of Hortense. She said firefighters urgently helped her walk down her wheelchair ramp and grab a rolling walker before she could gather more belongings, and that she had spent the night at a local church on a couch. “It was like, ‘Get out now, right now. You’ve got to leave,’” Murphy said Friday.
Firefighters used engines, hoses and sprinklers as bulldozers cleared fire breaks, with dozens of agencies working to keep flames from spreading further. “We’ve definitely had the local fire guys out there literally hosing stuff down,” Hawkins said of the efforts by local crews protecting nearby homes.
In Florida, officials said firefighters were battling more than 120 wildfires Friday, mostly in the state’s northern half, while Georgia responded to 31 new and relatively small blazes Thursday, according to the state forestry commission. Officials said soaking rain is badly needed, and they warned that possible weekend showers would not bring enough rainfall; they also cautioned that thunderstorms could bring lightning that might spark more fires. Johnny Sabo, director of the Georgia Forestry Commission, said, “It is going to take 8 to 10 inches before we can walk away from these fires,” and added that long-range forecasts predict less than average rainfall until July.