Historic Georgia wildfires continue to burn largely uncontained with no end in sight

A pair of wildfires in south Georgia are the two largest blazes currently being fought in the nation, and one of them is now the most destructive wildfire in Georgia history in terms of buildings lost, Gov. Brian Kemp said Friday.

Kemp briefed reporters at the Waycross-Ware County Airport in Waycross after surveying some of the damage by air.

Combined, the Pineland Road fire and Highway 82 fire have burned nearly 39,000 acres as of Friday afternoon and destroyed more than 120 homes or buildings, Kemp said.

Kemp characterized the situation as dangerous and volatile and called on nearby residents to keep their phones on and be prepared to follow instructions from authorities. People near the area are also urged to stay off roads being used by fire equipment and not to fly drones anywhere near the fires, as they interfere with aerial firefighting operations.

Earlier this week, Kemp issued a state of emergency for 91 Georgia counties and the forestry commission instituted a burn ban for those same counties.

The governor urged residents to obey the ban and take extra precautions like safely disposing of cigarettes and making sure nothing is dragging under vehicles that could create sparks. Kemp said any fires sparked by negligence would pull firefighters away from working to contain the two major fires.

Residents are also recommended to keep a shovel and fire extinguisher handy in case a floating spark lands on their property.

“We flew over a patch that was a small burned area where you had an ember from the fire a mile away that blew and landed somewhere else,” Kemp said. Thankfully, they were able to contain that. So there’s no way to, like, stop this fire. They’re having to contain the flanks and the back of it, and then hopefully we get a change in the weather and run it out for the front. And we’re doing everything we can to save homes, the volunteer firefighters are, but this is extreme conditions that we’re dealing with, and extreme fires.”

That change in the weather may not be coming soon, said Georgia Forestry Commissioner Johnny Sabo. The weekend forecast calls for some potential rain, but a light shower would do little to slow the raging flames, and high winds and lightning could make the situation worse.

“Even if we receive an inch of rain, these fires aren’t even close to out,” he said. “One thing that we’re seeing on every fire that we have, especially the Pineland fire, is all of our swamps are dried and that that soil in the swamp is what we call peat or duff, depending on where you are. And it’s 90% organic material, and it will burn for months and months and months.”

Sabo predicted it would take eight to ten inches of rain to douse the fires.

“We have a very long way to go,” he added. “The wildfire forecast is for us to be at less than average rainfall until July, so we’re going to be here for a while.”

State and federal agencies are assisting with the firefighting effort, including the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which has approved a fire management assistance grant for Clinch and Echols counties for up to 75% of firefighting costs, and sent a team of 75 fire safety experts to assist.

Kemp expressed admiration for the firefighters, law enforcement officers, game wardens and others working hard to contain the flames and keep residents safe.

“I know they’re tired, but they’re not going to say that,” he said. “But you can just see when you look at them, look at their uniforms and fire suits that they got on. You know they’ve been doing this for days on very little sleep, and it’s an incredible testament to those hard-working state employees and the Forestry Commission, but also to all the other people that are out working.”

“You go see, literally, a home, there’s just nothing left but the slab, and then next door you had a house that got saved, and it was because there was somebody that was able to keep that fire out of there,” he added.