VIDEOS: Huge plumes of smoke blanketed swaths of the Southeast on Wednesday as crews battled rapidly growing wildfires that destroyed more than 50 homes in Georgia and forced hundreds to flee the drought- and wind-fueled flames.
Some of the biggest blazes were near Georgia’s coast, while others were popping up in northern Florida, a state facing one of its worst fire seasons in decades.
It was not yet clear how the wildfires started, but the bottom half of Georgia is perilously dry and the conditions prompted the state’s forestry commission to issue a burn ban for the first time in its history.
Southeastern Georgia has seen just 11 inches (28 centimeters) of rain since the beginning of September — almost 15 inches (38 centimeters) below normal, the National Weather Service said.
The fires spread so quickly in that area that residents received no warnings or alerts. “I wish that I had knew something more,” said Brianna Elliott, who left home Tuesday only to find her route back blocked by the fires 90 minutes later.
“I would have turned around in that moment and gone home and got my animals before anything.” She now fears that her home and her dogs are gone.
Georgia’s two biggest wildfires together have burned more than 53 square miles (137.3 square kilometers), and crews responded Wednesday to 34 smaller fires newly burning across the state, the state’s forestry commission said.
WFLA-TV NBC 8 Tampa
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