ATLANTA — A spark from someone welding a gate and a balloon landing on a power line are what officials believe started the devastating wildfires now ripping through South Georgia
In a news conference on Friday afternoon, Gov. Brian Kemp and other state officials gave an update on where things stand with the Pineland Road Fire and Highway 82 fire in Brantley County.
We’ll have LIVE Team 2 Coverage from South Georgia, starting on Channel 2 Action News at 4 p.m.
“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.”
As of right now, Georgia has the two largest wildfires burning in the United States.
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So far, the two fires have burned nearly 39,000 acres of land.
Officials also said they believe that fire activity will remain high throughout the weekend.
“If you receive a mandatory evacuation notice, we need you to evacuate just as quickly as possible,” Joey Cason, county manager for Brantley County, said in a Facebook video Friday. “That containment can move from 15% to 0% in a matter of minutes with the wind.”
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. No deaths or injuries have been reported.
The Associated Press contributed to this article.
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