BRANTLEY, Ga. – Families in Brantley County are being forced from their homes again, as a wildfire continues to push toward neighborhoods along Old Post Road and Hunter Estates. A new evacuation alert went out Thursday morning, the latest in a week of back-and-forth orders that have left residents exhausted and on edge.
News4JAX was on the ground as families loaded up vehicles, hooked up trailers, and did whatever they could to protect what they were leaving behind.
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Police rolled onto Old Post Road around 11:30 a.m. to enforce mandatory evacuations. Jonathan Bennett, who lives in the evacuation zone, said he moved quickly when the alert hit his phone.
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“We just headed to the house,” Bennett said. “I got everything loaded up pretty much. All I gotta do is put the trailers with the four wheelers and everything on and we’re ready to go.”
Bennett said he has three children and three dogs at home. He said that one of his sons was at a youth program and should be safe.
His neighbor, Willie Usher, described the chaos of trying to figure out what to grab in a hurry.
“Couldn’t tell you,” Usher said. “Grab what you can and go.”
Not everyone was willing to leave without a fight. One resident who lives in the evacuation zone had sprinklers running across his property. He pointed to a stretch of land packed with pine straw, which he said worried him most.
“That’s the strip I am worried about,” Richard said, gesturing toward the area. “It’s eat up in pine straw.” He also pointed to a wind sock he put up the day before to track which direction the fire might move.
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On Browntown Road, another resident was digging his own firebreak around his property as helicopters flew overhead.
“I hope they can put it out so more homes don’t get burned,” the man told News4JaX.
Darlene Drury, who lives in Hunter Estates, led News4JAX through the dust to a spot where smoke was already visible behind a neighbor’s home.
“Got a little smoke,” Drury said. “It’s firing behind [a neighbor’s] house.” She acknowledged the plumes can be deceiving. “When you have them plumes like that, they look like they’re right on top of you, but they might not necessarily be.”
Officials are urging the public to monitor the Brantley County Facebook page for the latest updates.