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NAHUNTA, Ga., officials said one of two large wildfires in southeastern Georgia had continued to grow and exceeded 31 square miles by Sunday, as the fire’s containment remained low and weather conditions threatened to worsen. The Highway 82 Fire has been burning since April 20 and officials said it destroyed at least 87 homes by Saturday, while reporting that it was only 7% contained on Sunday morning. Highway 82 is in Brantley County, about 35 miles north of the Florida state line. MSI previously reported that strong winds were approaching as the wildfire risk rose for nearby communities.
Brantley County Manager Joey Cason said the fire “basically doubled last night in size,” describing it as a dynamic situation that would be influenced by wind. Cason said wind gusts of about 15 mph (24.1 kph) were expected Sunday and that evacuation notices could be issued that day. He also warned that some residents who did not evacuate previously nearly became trapped by the expanding flames, saying, “We had folks that did not evacuate and they almost got caught by that fire.”
Cason said more firefighting personnel were expected to arrive Sunday and Monday to help battle the blaze. Susie Heisey, a spokeswoman for the Southern Area Incident Management Team, said updated figures on homes damaged or destroyed by the Highway 82 Fire were not immediately available Sunday afternoon. Heisey said investigators could not be sent in yet to assess damages because of the ongoing fire conditions.
Officials said the Highway 82 Fire began after a foil balloon struck live power lines, producing an electrical arc that ignited combustible material on the ground. Fire crews also have been battling a large number of other fires across Georgia and Florida, with smoky haze reaching areas far from where flames were burning and prompting air quality warnings for some cities.
A separate wildfire about 70 miles southwest of the Highway 82 area—burning in Clinch and Echols counties near the Florida line—has also been consuming large tracts of land and threatening homes. Officials said that fire had burned more than 46 square miles (121 square kilometers), destroyed at least 35 homes, and was only about 10% contained as of Saturday. They said that blaze was started by sparks from a welding operation.
In northern Florida, the Nassau County Sheriff’s Office volunteer firefighter James “Kevin” Crews died Thursday evening after suffering an unspecified medical emergency while suppressing a brush fire, officials said. No fire deaths or injuries had been reported in Georgia at the time of the update.
Scientists have said the unusually large number of wildfires burning across the Southeast this spring has been intensified by extreme drought, gusty winds, climate change, and dead trees left behind after Hurricane Helene in 2024. Fire officials continued to work amid the dry conditions and shifting winds that can cause fast growth in active fire areas.