By RUSS BYNUM, Associated Press Writer
WAYCROSS, Ga. — Hundreds of residents were told to leave their homes as one wildfire rekindled and destroyed at least four houses and another threatened to jump a highway, authorities said.
A fire near Nahunta, east of Waycross, that firefighters said they had contained last week began raging again Thursday afternoon, emergency services dispatcher Elaine Wilson said.
She did not know exactly how many people had to leave their homes, but said it was hundreds. She was also unsure how extensive the fire was but said it spread about 4 miles (6 kilometers) along a highway.
Ware County sheriff’s deputies visited about 100 homes in and near Astoria, a tiny community 3 miles (5 kilometers) southeast of Waycross, asking people to leave as a wildfire in the Okefenokee Swamp approached. Most had just returned home after evacuating for several hours Wednesday.
In the past 11 days, wildfires have blackened 95 square miles (245 square kilometers) — or about 61,100 acres (24,700 hectares) — of forest and swamp parched by drought. Officials say 18 homes have been destroyed.
Emergency officials closed 16 miles (26 kilometers) of U.S. Highway 1 and railroad tracks running alongside near the Okefenokee Swamp.
Sustained winds of up to 20 mph (32 kph) from the southwest were forecast Thursday, increasing chances the fire would spread across the four-lane, divided highway that connects Waycross with Jacksonville, Florida.
If the blaze crosses the highway, firefighters said it could threaten two towns. “All there is between U.S. 1 and Nahunta and Hoboken is just timber, tons and tons of timber with unlimited fuel,” Mosley said.
About 1,000 people were forced to evacuate their homes near Waycross last week, and most have not been allowed to return. An additional 5,000 people had been urged to voluntarily evacuate because of health risks posed by heavy smoke.