Growing wildfires blamed for death of Florida firefighter, destruction of 120 Georgia homes

NAHUNTA, Ga. (AP) — A volunteer firefighter died battling a wildfire in Florida while more than 120 homes in drought-stricken southeast Georgia have been destroyed by two large blazes, one of which investigators suspect was sparked by an aluminum party balloon, officials said Friday.

An unusually large number of wildfires are burning this spring across the Southeast, where scientists say the threat of fire has been amplified by a combination of drought, gusty winds, climate change and dead trees still littering some forest nearly two years since they were toppled by Hurricane Helene.

READ MORE: Southern U.S. wildfires force hundreds of residents to flee

In northern Florida, the Nassau County Sheriff’s Office said Friday that volunteer firefighter James “Kevin” Crews suffered an unspecified medical emergency while suppressing a brush fire. Crews was rushed to a hospital where he died Thursday evening, according to a news release posted to social media.

“Kevin was the epitome of courage and dedication,” Hilliard Volunteer Fire Chief Jerry Johnson said in a statement. “His sacrifice will never be forgotten.”

After getting a firsthand look at firefighting efforts in southeast Georgia, Gov. Brian Kemp told reporters that state officials believe 87 homes burned in rural Brantley County this week are the most ever destroyed by wildfire in the state’s history.

READ MORE: Wildfires destroy nearly 50 homes in Georgia as blazes grow in Florida

An additional 35 homes have been lost to a larger fire burning in sparsely populated Clinch and Echols counties near the Florida state line, Kemp said. That blaze has burned about 50 square miles (129 square kilometers), an area twice the size of Manhattan.

Kemp said investigators suspect the Brantley County fire was sparked by an aluminum party balloon that touched live power lines, creating an electrical arc that sparked flames on the ground.

Spread across more than 8 square miles (20 square kilometers), the Brantley County blaze was 15% contained Friday, the Georgia Forestry Commission said. Local officials have ordered evacuations across an expanding area almost daily, including Friday.

“There’s no way to stop this fire,” Kemp said. “They’re having to contain the flanks and the back of it and then, hopefully, we get a change in the weather.”

READ MORE: Powerful winds and extreme weather knock out power, damage property and fuel wildfires across parts of U.S.

No fire deaths or injuries have been reported in Georgia.

Firefighters are battling more than 150 other wildfires in Georgia and Florida that have sent smoky haze into places far from the flames, triggering air quality warnings for some cities.

Local officials estimate roughly 200 Brantley County residents have been ordered to evacuate, leaving those displaced to worry about animals left behind and whether they will have homes to return to.

While crews with bulldozers work to clear fire breaks around the burning areas, firefighters from dozens of local agencies have focused on protecting nearby homes and other structures — clearing away dry brush and using hoses and sprinklers to keep houses and yards wet.

READ MORE: Tornado barrels through Oklahoma, damaging 40 homes and shutting down roads

“We’ve definitely had the local fire guys out there literally hosing stuff down,” said Seth Hawkins, a Georgia Forestry Commission spokesperson dispatched to the Brantley County fire.

In Florida, firefighters were battling more than 120 wildfires Friday, mostly in the state’s northern half. Fire crews in Georgia responded to 31 new and relatively small blazes Thursday, the state forestry commission said.

Officials say soaking rain is needed to snuff out the larger fires. Areas where the two big wildfires are burning in Georgia have a 20% to 40% chance of showers and possible thunderstorms over the weekend.

That might produce enough rain to slow the big fires down, Hawkins said, but won’t extinguish them. And lightning from thunderstorms could spark more fire, he said.

“We’re going to need several inches of rain, and then maybe another blast of several inches, to extinguish this thing,” Hawkins said.