drought-fueled wildfires News

Rains Nearly Extinguish Vast Georgia Wildfire Burning Since April

A wildfire that burned vast acreage and at one point threatened hundreds of homes near the Georgia-Florida state line has been nearly extinguished after steady rains soaked the Okefenokee Swamp over the past week. The team fighting the blaze now …

Number of Florida Wildfires Tops 2,100 So Far This Year

State officials say 170,000 acres in Florida have burned from wildfires since the start of the year. Florida Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam said that more than 127 active fires were burning in Florida as of Monday. Since the start of …

Evacuation Order Lifted for Georgia Residents Near Okefenokee Wildfire

A mandatory evacuation order has been lifted for two south Georgia towns threatened for days last week by a wildfire that had spread outside the boundaries of the neighboring Okefenokee swamp. Authorities say evacuation orders in place for about a …

Evacuations Continue in Georgia Wildfire Zone But Many Defy Orders

Jessica Boldin and her family evacuated 15 horses, six dogs and other animals from their ranch in rural Georgia as a vast wildfire emerging from the Okefenokee Swamp blackened trees behind their home. Flames that pushed within 3 miles (5 …

Dozens Forced to Evacuate in Southern Georgia as Wildfire Spreads

Several dozen people in Georgia’s southernmost county have been evacuated after a wildfire in the Okefenokee Swamp has begun to burn just a few miles from the St. George community. Saturday’s evacuation initially included a sparsely populated rural area of …

Residents in Southwest Florida Evacuated as Brush Fires Spread

Brush fires are threatening more than 2,000 homes in southwest Florida, and the Florida National Guard is helping to evacuate residents. Gov. Rick Scott said in a statement Friday that he deployed the guard and five UH-60 Blackhawk helicopters to …

Florida Wildfires Burn More Than 126K Acres So Far in 2017

At least 126,000 acres have burned in wildfires across Florida since January, surpassing the five-year average of acreage burned in a typical year, officials said. Florida’s fire season peaks this month, during the driest part of the year in the …

Wildfire in Georgia Wildlife Refuge Grows to 6,000 Acres, Spares Communities

A wildfire sparked by lightning in the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge is spreading through government-owned swamp and forestland, having burned more than 9 square miles (23.3 square km) near the Georgia-Florida state line. Susan Heisey, supervisory ranger for the refuge, …

Florida Gov Declares Emergency As More Than 100 Wildfires Burn Across State

The Florida Forest Service says more than 100 active wildfires are burning across the state right now. The Tampa Bay Times reports 25 of them are scorching more than 100 acres each. Since February, wildfires have swept across 68,000 acres …

Tornadoes, Hurricanes and Fires… Oh My! 2016 A Rough Year for the Southeast

It is fair to say 2016 was the year of the catastrophe in the Southeast. Tornadoes, drought, floods, hurricanes, and wildfires impacted virtually every state in the region. For the insurance industry, these events made for a very busy year …