Georgia wildfire continues to burn
Pastor Dale Morgan
Georgia wildfire continues to burn*
WAYCROSS, Ga. (AP) — A wildfire in southeast Georgia that has burned
more than 70 square miles of forest was less than half a mile from the
Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge, a forestry official said Saturday.
The fire was still only 35% contained, though lighter winds out of the
east were pushing it away from Waycross, a city of more than 15,000
people just northeast of the massive blaze, said Eric Mosley, a
spokesman for the Georgia Forestry Commission.
People in the communities of Manor and Homerville, which were in the
fire's path Saturday morning, were asked to be on alert, Mosley said. No
new evacuations were requested Saturday, after about 6,000 people were
forced or asked to evacuate earlier this week.
The fire started Monday when a tree fell on a power line. Fueled by
gusty winds, the fire has consumed more than 45,000 acres of forest and
destroyed about 18 homes.
On Saturday, the fire was less than half a mile from entering the
Okefenokee refuge, one of the nation's best-preserved wetland areas,
according to refuge spokeswoman John Calabrese.
The ecosystem there is fire-dependent, so fire inside the refuge
"wouldn't be such a bad thing" for plants and animals there, Calabrese
said.