Wildfires drove smoke into Atlanta on Wednesday as crews battled fast-moving blazes across south-east Georgia and north-east Florida, forcing evacuations, closing schools and destroying 50 homes in one Georgia region. The Georgia Forestry Commission also issued the state’s first mandatory burn ban, covering 91 counties in the lower half of Georgia.
The worst fires were more than 200 miles from Atlanta, but smoky conditions were expected to linger in the city throughout the day. Smoke also spread into Savannah and Jacksonville, and air quality in parts of south Georgia fell into the unhealthy category.
Georgia’s biggest fires together had burned more than 31 square miles, while firefighters in Florida were battling 131 wildfires that had blackened 34 square miles. In Brantley County, a fast-moving fire destroyed 47 homes a day earlier and threatened 300 more, prompting at least 800 evacuations and the opening of five shelters. Nearly two dozen fire agencies were called in to help.
Gov. Brian Kemp said his office was working closely with the Georgia Forestry Commission to respond to the growing threat and urged people in directly affected areas to follow local guidance. In Florida, Agriculture Commissioner Wilton Simpson said the state was in one of its worst fire seasons in decades and noted that the state had been in drought for 18 months. Forestry Commission director Tim Lowrimore called the situation serious and evolving.
The fires were fed by long drought, low humidity and strong winds, with drought across the contiguous US reaching record levels for this time of year. More than 61% of the lower 48 states were in moderate to exceptional drought, and Florida was in exceptional or extreme drought, according to the US Drought Monitor, which began tracking conditions in 2000. A large fire that started in Clinch County also forced evacuations in multiple communities. The key question now is whether the rain and calmer winds that firefighters need will arrive before the blazes spread farther.
