By Teresa Stepzinski
The Augusta Chronicle
Copyright 2007 Southeastern Newspapers Corporation
All Rights Reserved
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WAYCROSS, Ga. — The largest wildfire in Georgia history continued to grow Monday in Ware County and spawned new blazes, ratcheting up resident fears the firestorm might burn through the summer.
The wildfire has burned more than 82,000 acres since it sparked April 16 when wind blew down a power line on Sweat Farm Road, Georgia Forestry Commission rangers estimated.
“Bless them, those firemen are doing everything they can to fight this thing. But it just seems to keep getting bigger and bigger. I don’t know how they can stop it. ... I’m worried they might not be able to,” said Melissa Wickham of Nahunta, Ga., who bought a case of Gatorade for the firefighters.
The winds that have plagued firefighters were blowing smoke away from Ware and Pierce counties Monday, which prompted schools to reopen.
Meanwhile, more than 20 smaller wildfires were burning throughout southeast Georgia during the weekend. All are under investigation, including some in Brantley, Ware, Atkinson and Charlton counties that state forestry rangers deem possibly suspicious.
“Fire seems to be everywhere ... and the problem is not going away until we get a significant rainfall,” said Byron Haire, a forestry commission spokesman. “With these winds and no rain, there’s really nothing you can do with it.”
The Sweat Farm Road Fire has moved south into Charlton County and firefighters have moved just north of Folkston to build breaks to contain it.
Federal and state teams Monday were widening and improving firebreaks west of Homeland, a small city that abuts Folkston to the northeast, said John Calabrese, a fire information officer for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
It is likely that more resources will be shifted to the south in the coming days.
There have been a few spot overs from the fire that were quickly contained, he said.
Other spot fires appear suspicious and are thought to have been purposely set.
“People should be aware of who’s around” and report suspicious activity to law enforcement, Mr. Calabrese said.
Charlton County residents in the Race Pond community were urged to evacuate their homes Sunday night and a shelter was opened at Folkston Elementary School. Charlton County schools were closed Monday.
An emergency shelter opened in Folkston as a precaution Sunday in the event future evacuations were ordered. However, the wildfires were about 15 miles away from the town, and it was not threatened, Mr. Haire said.
About 830 forest rangers and firefighters from at least a half dozen states are battling the Ware inferno.