(The Center Square) – Gov. Brian Kemp said Friday a balloon that landed on a power line may have created a wildfire in Brantley County that has destroyed 87 homes and endangered 800 others.
The fire, known as the Highway 82 fire, encompasses more than 7,500 acres and is 15% contained, Kemp said in a news conference.
A fire in Clinch County known as the Pineland Road fire covers more than 31,000 acres and is just 10% contained.
“There’s been 35 homes lost and there’s about 160 homes that are in harm’s way,” Kemp said. “So we’ve got a total of 38,873 acres that have been burned or are burning between just these two fires.”
The two fires are the worst in the state’s history, according to the governor.
The Georgia Forestry Commission issued a month-long burn ban for 91 south Georgia counties on Wednesday. But what the area needs is rain, said Johnny Sabo, director of the Georgia Forestry Commission.
“Even if we receive an inch of rain, these fires aren’t even close to out,” Sabo said. “One thing that we’re seeing on every fire that we have, especially the Pineland fire, is that all of our swamps are close to dry and that soil in the swamp is what we call peat and duff and depending on where you are, it’s 90% organic material and it will burn for months and months. So it’s going to take eight to 10 inches of rain before we can walk away from these fires.”
The fires led to mandatory evacuations of some residents. Brantley County has a curfew from 8:30 p.m. to 6:30 a.m., according to a release from the Forestry Commission.
The agency is also asking residents not to fly drones into the fire areas.
“If you fly, we can’t fly,” the agency said.
Georgia is experiencing a drought, sparking fires in other parts of the state. The Georgia Forestry Commission responded to 31 new wildfires, burning 266 acres statewide on Thursday, the agency said on its website.