Wildfires burning in Georgia and Florida, homes destroyed

Key Points:

• Rapidly growing wildfires in Georgia have destroyed over 50 homes and forced hundreds to evacuate, with some of the largest fires near the coast and others in northern Florida, which is experiencing one of its worst fire seasons in decades.
• Georgia’s southern region is under an unprecedented 30-day burn ban due to extreme drought conditions, with only 11 inches of rain since September, nearly 15 inches below normal, fueling the fast spread of fires.
• The Brantley County fire alone has burned more than 53 square miles and threatened about 1,000 homes, prompting additional evacuations and emergency responses including fire breaks and federal grants from FEMA.
• Smoke from the wildfires has degraded air quality in parts of south Georgia and spread to Atlanta, Savannah, Jacksonville, and even into South Carolina, with unhealthy conditions expected to persist through Friday.
• Georgia Governor Brian Kemp declared a state of emergency for more than half the state’s counties, while Florida battles over 130 wildfires amid a prolonged drought, making this one of the worst fire seasons in decades for the region.