FOLKSTON, Ga. – Evacuation orders issued for some Charlton County homes have been lifted as crews continue to battle a wildfire that reached an estimated 550 acres in Southeast Georgia on Sunday.
The Highway 301 wildfire was approximately 70% contained as of 7:30 p.m. Sunday, according to the Georgia Forestry Commission.
The wildfire, believed to have been sparked by a downed powerline, stretched nearly 2 miles from U.S. 301 to County Road 252, as of the 7:30 p.m. update.
By 8:45 p.m., the Charlton County Emergency Management Agency said all residents who had previously been ordered to evacuate could return home.
But officials urged residents to stay vigilant:
𝑷𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒖𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒍𝒚 𝒎𝒐𝒏𝒊𝒕𝒐𝒓 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔 𝒊𝒏 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒂𝒓𝒆𝒂 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒓𝒆𝒎𝒂𝒊𝒏 𝒂𝒘𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒔𝒖𝒓𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒔, 𝒂𝒔 𝒔𝒉𝒊𝒇𝒕𝒔 𝒊𝒏 𝒘𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒐𝒓 𝒇𝒊𝒓𝒆 𝒃𝒆𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒊𝒐𝒓 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔 𝒒𝒖𝒊𝒄𝒌𝒍𝒚.
A report from the National Weather Service indicated minor damage occurred to one structures and as many as 75 homes and 150 outbuildings were being threatened by the blaze.
According to the Georgia Forestry Commission, the fire was at 230 acres as of 4:30 p.m. with 0% of the fire contained, and at 4:42 p.m., residents in the area Highway 301 and Humphries Road were ordered to evacuate.
“Please leave the area safely and follow directions from on-scene emergency personnel. Take essential items only and check on neighbors if you are able to do so safely,” emergency officials wrote in a social media post.
The original evacuation order included:
- Harold White Road
- Humphries Road
- Bill Knight Road
- Willow Creek Road
The Forest Lake Area was added to the evacuation order at 6:27 p.m., but two hours later, all residents were told they could return to their homes.
Charlton County schools will operate normally on Monday, according to a post from the district.
One viewer shared nighttime drone footage of the blaze.
Cricket Nettle told News4JAX the fire burned her farm, but she and her animals were able to relocate safely.
She said if a neighbor hadn’t warned them, they wouldn’t have known about the fire.
“It’s very, very scary. When you don’t have anything around you and all this is dry woods, and you’re worried about your house burning down,” Nettle said. “We didn’t even have internet to tell us it was on fire. Our neighbor ran through the woods and was knocking on my door.”
Nettle said she invited the neighbor in, not realizing anything was wrong.
“She’s like, ‘The woods are on fire all around,’” Nettle said. “No, I don’t think I’ll be doing much sleeping tonight.
Casey Knowles, a Folkston resident, captured video of the large plume of smoke that filled the sky near her home.
“It was very shocking to walk outside and see that. I wasn’t expecting that,” she said, noting that by the time she spoke with News4JAX in the evening, conditions had worsened since she first recorded the video in the afternoon.
Knowles said conditions were very windy most of the day.
“This wind that has been whipping all day is definitely helping this fire spread,” Knowles said.
Out of precaution, she packed essential items in her car to prepare in case an evacuation was called in her area.
“I want to grab my whole house and pack it up, but I don’t think my trunk is big enough,” she said.
She said at the time that a few of her neighbors had already left the area.
“I’m definitely worried, just the possibility, the not knowing of exactly how close or far it is from the neighborhood,” she said.
“I pray that everybody is safe and no one is in harm’s way,” she continued. “And no damage has been done that is irreversible. That they get this under control as quickly as possible before anything else happens.”