Crews from 12 counties work to contain Bulloch County wildfire

BULLOCH COUNTY, Ga. (WTOC) - Crews from 12 counties and the Georgia Forestry Commission returned Saturday to continue battling a wildfire that has burned 389 acres.

Seven tractors, seven engines and helicopters were on scene dropping water and working to maintain containment lines.

As of Saturday, crews have kept 75% of the fire contained.

The fire escaped Friday afternoon, according to David Brown, Region 4 Manager for the Georgia Forestry Commission. Crews worked overnight to hold containment.

“Everything held overnight, so that was a positive sign,” Brown said. “No evacuations yesterday — we did have to evacuate, and a couple more were on standby, and they did that on their own.”

Brown said the sea breeze and humidity have become a concern Saturday afternoon. He said if weather conditions remain stable, crews should be able to continue containing the fire.

The Georgia Forestry Commission said a number of things could have sparked the fire, but a cause has not yet been determined.

Investigators are expected to arrive Monday to identify what may have started the fire.

“I’m proud of this team and what they’ve accomplished on this fire already,” he said.

The Forestry Commission urges everyone to avoid flying drones and do burn anything until the area receives rainfall.

“If a drone’s in the air, then our aircraft can’t be,” he said. “We have to ground our stuff if a drone’s flown, a personal drone. So please, keep them out of this area so we can do what we need to do.

Amy Grace said she lived in the area, that the fire was about half an acre from her front door.

She said on Saturday she was living her worst nightmare after her family decided to leave the house Friday night and left behind her later mother’s heirlooms and belongings.

“I don’t have the capacity to compute the heaviness and everything I have of her is in that house,” she said. “We have to get our animals and get out of our home. It was smoky enough that the visibility was bad, trying to get out of there at least a good half a mile of bad visibility.”