Officials expect long battle as Georgia wildfires top 80 homes damaged

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Officials battling two large wildfires in southern Georgia warned Tuesday that firefighters are planning for a prolonged response even after weekend rains improved containment, state and local officials said. Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp told reporters after touring fire areas that a little rainfall would not end the crisis and that crews should expect the situation to last.

Kemp said Georgia’s firefighters were facing a long effort, adding: “A little bit of rain is going to help us, but it’s not going to get us out of this situation,” according to remarks carried by the Associated Press. “We’re going to be in this for a while,” Kemp said.

In Brantley County, officials said a fire that had burned roughly 35 square miles destroyed more than 80 homes and was 32% contained as of Tuesday. That marked an increase from the 6% containment figure officials reported Monday, after rains on Sunday gave crews an opening to widen containment lines along the perimeter and snuff out smoldering pockets, the Georgia Forestry Commission said.

Johnny Sabo, director of the Georgia Forestry Commission, said that as containment numbers improved, confidence in holding the fire within its established footprint increased. “As that number increases, our confidence at holding it in that footprint increases,” Sabo told reporters. He added: “We have a long way to go. I just want to stress that,” urging residents to stay prepared as firefighters continued their work.

Sabo and other officials also described progress and remaining risk on a second blaze burning at the Georgia-Florida line, covering parts of Clinch and Echols counties. Officials said the wildfire had charred more than 50 square miles and was considered 23% contained Tuesday, while crews had held the fire to roughly the same footprint for four days.

Officials said the Brantley County fire damaged additional structures beyond the destroyed homes, with Don Thomas, a spokesperson for the Georgia Forestry Commission, reporting that one home and several dozen sheds and other smaller structures were destroyed. Both officials said no fire injuries or deaths had been reported in Georgia, but they noted a volunteer firefighter in Nassau County, Florida, died last week after suffering an unspecified medical emergency while suppressing a brush fire.

Local officials said progress against the Brantley County blaze prompted them to lift evacuation orders on Monday for about 1,500 people who had fled their homes, though about 2,500 people remained displaced. Susan Heisey, a spokesperson for the fire command team, said officials were also warning residents returning home to be ready to evacuate again if conditions change.

Officials tied both fires to statewide drought conditions, saying Georgia’s worst drought in two decades had left pine forests and swampy lowlands unusually dry and combustible. They also said investigators concluded the Brantley County fire began April 20 when a foil balloon touched a power line, creating an electrical arc that ignited the ground, while the Clinch-and-Echols fire began April 18 when a falling spark occurred as a man was welding a gate, state officials said.

Looking ahead, officials said forecasts showed a high chance of more rain over the fires this weekend, but they also warned that thunderstorms could bring lightning capable of sparking new fires. Sabo pointed to a nearby example, saying a large lightning-sparked fire in the Okefenokee Swamp in 2011 burned for just shy of a year, underscoring concerns about how long the Georgia fires could last if rainfall is insufficient.