‘Everything was gone in minutes’: Brantley County woman describes wildfire destroying home, family business

BRANTLEY COUNTY, Ga. (WTOC) - A Brantley County woman says a wildfire tore through her property so fast that her home and family business were wiped out, leaving behind only ash and debris.

Ginger Hunter said the Brantley County wildfire moved in Tuesday and destroyed multiple buildings on her property in Waynesville, including her wedding chapel.

“It was so terrible knowing that my life was forever changed, but hoping that some miracle happened that my home was spared,” Hunter said. “Which it obviously it was not.”

Hunter said when she returned to the property, the structures that once stood there were gone.

“They literally don’t exist except in the form of ash, and that I still can’t wrap my brain around that,” she said.

Hunter said she was at home with her family and pets when she began to see and smell the fire getting closer, and she realized she had only minutes to make decisions about what to take.

“And I was outside and someone pulled up in the yard and they’re like, you need you to go, we need you to evacuate,” Hunter said.

Hunter said she and her family left and went to her mother’s home in Brunswick, watching from a distance as flames took over the property.

“I looked up at my church, in-between my buildings, I could see the fire just red,” she said. “It was right there at the trees.”

When Hunter returned two days later, she said the damage looked like a war zone — and what stuck with her most was how quickly it all happened.

“The way the fire came up, it consumed everything,” Hunter said. “Everything was consumed within five minutes and I have 7 acres of land.”

Hunter said she has set up a GoFundMe titled “Hope 4 our future after fire in Brantley Co, GA” as she works to rebuild.

She said she plans to visit her father in New Bern, North Carolina, next week and hopes rain will help crews battling the wildfire while she is away.