BRANTLEY COUNTY, Ga. – As conditions improved in Brantley County, Georgia, with the Highway 82 wildfire now 90% contained, some residents who evacuated for days are beginning to return home — finding a stark mix of devastation and relief.
Along Browntown Road, the fast-moving fire destroyed dozens of structures, and residents said more than 100 homes were lost across the wildfire zone. Some families returned to ash and rubble, while a handful found their houses still standing, even as flames came within view of their properties.
“It was nothing short of a miracle,” Patty Corsones said, a Brantley County resident who evacuated as the fire grew closer to her neighborhood.
Corsones said several homes around her were burned and that her neighbor, Rick Biehl, watched flames move through the forest and toward homes along the road.
“I saw the flames come over through the forest across the way — huge flames, really scary,” Biehl said.
Corsones said she stopped to help Biehl evacuate because he did not have a car at the time. “Of course, I wasn’t going to leave him there where the fire’s coming across the road,” she said. “So I stopped at his house to get him out.”
During the evacuation, Biehl said he received a call from a family member telling him his home was on fire. He said he was also worried about dozens of animals he left behind.
“I’ve got 20-some animals that I had to worry about…but I have no access to the property, so no way to find out if they’re OK,” Biehl said.
Corsones said she held onto hope while they waited for word, believing they would have something to return to.
“I have faith that it’s still there,” she said. “Now, I could be wrong, but it’s better to have hope.”
When residents were able to return, Corsones and Biehl found their homes still standing — despite flames burning nearby. Corsones said she believes the community will need that same resilience as recovery continues for families who lost everything.
“What happened for me, I believe, can happen for anybody, even if their place was destroyed, because God always has a plan,” she said.
Officials have continued to monitor hotspots as containment increases, while residents sift through damage and begin the long process of rebuilding.