Raging Georgia Wildfire Destroys 18 Homes
Pastor Dale Morgan
Raging Georgia Wildfire Destroys 18 Homes*
A 35,000-acre wildfire roars outside Waycross, Ga., Friday, April 20,
2007. Over 300 firefighters from multiple agencies have been battling
the blaze for the last five days and estimate they have only 35 percent
of it under control.
By Russ Bynum, Associated Press Writer
WAYCROSS, Ga. — Gusting wind could help firefighters Friday by pushing a
45-square-mile wildfire from the boggy Okefenokee Swamp to an upland
area where it would be easier to control, officials said.
The 20 mph wind forecast Friday could intensify the blaze, which has
destroyed 18 houses and forced at least 1,000 people from their homes.
"The fire will be fierce today, but it will be in a place where we can
get at it," said Alan Dozier, the state forestry commission's chief
firefighter.
The flames jumped a fire break on Thursday into the Okefenokee Swamp and
sent a thick haze of smoke through Waycross, a city of about 15,000,
said Robin Cole, a spokeswoman for the Forestry Commission.
About 5,000 people, many of them senior citizens, were urged to leave
because of the smoke. Some spent Thursday night at a shelter set up at a
middle school.
"We're staying with my friend, a bunch of us — about 25," said Denise
Lott, 45, who fled her mobile home Monday with her grown sons and her
bedridden, 80-year-old father. "We're sleeping on floors and in chairs."
Officials said they were unsure when most residents who evacuated their
homes would be allowed to return.
"The fire's going to push south, which means Waycross isn't going to see
so much heavy smoke and the fire's going away from the town," Cole said
Friday. She said higher humidity would also help blunt the fire's spread
by keeping conditions more moist.
The blaze started Monday when a tree fell on a power line. It raced
through forested areas, but Cole said it had not entered the Okefenokee
National Wildlife Refuge, one of the nation's best-preserved wetland
areas. A smaller fire, about 3 square miles, was contained Thursday,
said Eric Mosley, spokesman for the Georgia Forestry Commission.
No deaths were reported, but several firefighters were treated for smoke
inhalation or injuries.