Heavy rain not ‘nearly enough’ to tame two wildfires in drought-stricken Georgia

Heavy rain slowed the progress of two sprawling southern Georgia wildfires over the weekend, allowing crews to make some progress in containing the blazes that have destroyed more than 100 homes. Although the rain helped the firefighting efforts, it wasn’t “nearly enough to put the fires out” and crews responded to 10 new blazes throughout the drought-stricken state Sunday, the Georgia Forestry Commission said Monday. The biggest blaze, the Pineland Road fire, has scorched more than 50 sq miles (130sq km) and at least 35 homes in a sparsely populated and heavily wooded part of the state about 35 miles (56km) north of Florida, which is also dealing with wildfires. The area has been full of highly combustible dead trees and other vegetation since Hurricane Helene carved a destructive path northward in September of 2024. The second-biggest, the Highway 82 fire, has been burning since 20 April about 60 miles (97km) to the north-east. It has destroyed at least 87 homes and torched more than 35 sq miles (90 sq km), according to figures released Monday. It is only 6% contained. “The fire basically doubled last night in size,” said Joey Cason, the Brantley county manager, in a Facebook post on Sunday. “It is a dynamic fire event that will be impacted by the wind.” Authorities believe the Highway 82 blaze was sparked by a foil balloon hitting live power lines. That created an electrical arc that ignited combustible material on the ground. …