BRANTLEY COUNTY, Ga. – A fast-moving Highway 82 wildfire in Brantley County threatened roughly 1,000 homes Wednesday after destroying dozens a day earlier.
Hundreds have been forced to flee the drought- and wind-fueled flames, but thankfully, no major injuries have been reported so far, Brantley County Manager Joey Cason said.
For many families, the scars of this wildfire will be more emotional.
“I wish that I had known something more,” said Brianna Elliott, who left home Tuesday only to find her route back blocked by the fires 90 minutes later. “I would have turned around in that moment and gone home and got my animals before anything.”
She told the Associated Press that she now fears that her home and her dogs are gone.
David Knox, who lives along Browntown Road, said if he had not packed up his car a day ahead of time, he would not have been able to save anything.
They had only minutes to get out when first responders went up the road, telling everyone to leave as soon as possible.
“It is in God‘s hands. I hope we don’t lose everything. Everything might get a little burned up. We can replace,” Knox said.
But Knox’s home might have been spared. A 7:30 p.m. update from Brantley County officials said the fire activity did not reach Browntown Road and that the fire was moving north toward Stewart Road.
But officials have emphasized throughout the ordeal that conditions can change in a moment.
The Highway 82 fire grew by roughly six times in just a half day on Tuesday with fires erupting “in the backyard and people taking off in the front yard.”
A woman named Lucky Phillips told News4JAX she had just 15 minutes to grab what she could from her house off Highway 82, which she ultimately lost.
She and her fiancé managed to get their four animals and make it safely to a friend’s house, but her home of 15 years was leveled by the flames.
“There are no words. If you see the video, you will understand what I am going through. Other than that, I know you all feel my pain,” Phillips said, referencing the video below that was shared with News4JAX. “We have each other. We can get through this. We can get through hurricanes; we can get through this. I am not going to let anybody bring me down. We got this.”
Mike Reardon and his wife packed family photos and their dog, Molly Rose, along with new e-bikes before leaving their Brantley County home.
The fire was about a mile away, and a shift in the wind would put flames “in our backyard in a matter of minutes,” he told AP.
The couple just built the home two years ago.
“It’s more than our house. It’s land that my dad bought years ago,” Liz Reardon said, fighting back tears. “It’s the most beautiful place in the world to me.”
A Facebook post from Brantley Animal Rescue Coaltion (BARC), said their facility was put under a mandatory evacuation, and they were grateful for those who stepped up to give them shelter.
Dry timber feeds Georgia fires
The bottom half of Georgia is perilously dry, and the conditions prompted the state’s forestry commission to issue a burn ban for the first time in its history.
Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp declared a state of emergency for more than half of the state’s counties.
It was not yet clear how the wildfires started, but Southeastern Georgia has seen just 11 inches of rain since the beginning of September — almost 15 inches below normal, the National Weather Service said.
Rural Brantley county is roughly midway between Georgia’s coastal beaches and the Okefenokee Swamp, dotted with livestock and fruit farms as well as thick stands of planted pines grown for timber.
Crews worked to create fire breaks and stop the flames from reaching populated areas. The biggest concern was gusting winds that could easily spread embers.
Authorities said rain is desperately needed. The area with the worst fires was in exceptional or extreme drought, the most dire levels, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor.
“If you could start praying for that right now, we’d be grateful,” Cason said.
Pine and hardwood forests in the region are helping charge the fires, said Seth Hawkins, a spokesperson for the Georgia Forestry Commission, and swampy lowlands with thick layers of leaves and woody debris are “super flammable” when they dry out.
The commission’s 30-day burn ban is for the southern part of the state.
FEMA announced the approval of grants for Georgia to battle the blazes.