Growing wildfires blamed for death of Florida firefighter and
destruction of 120 Georgia homes
[April 25, 2026]
By EMILIE MEGNIEN and RUSS BYNUM
NAHUNTA, Ga. (AP) — A volunteer firefighter died battling a wildfire in
northern Florida while more than 120 homes have been destroyed in
southeast Georgia and thousands more remain threatened by two large
blazes, one of which investigators suspect was sparked by a foil balloon
touching power lines, officials said Friday.
An unusually large number of wildfires are burning this spring across
the Southeast, where scientists say the threat of fire has been
amplified by a combination of extreme drought, gusty winds, climate
change and dead trees still littering some forests after being toppled
by Hurricane Helene in 2024.
In northern Florida, the Nassau County Sheriff's Office said Friday that
volunteer firefighter James “Kevin” Crews suffered an unspecified
medical emergency while suppressing a brush fire. Crews was rushed to a
hospital where he died Thursday evening, according to a news release
posted to social media.
“Kevin was the epitome of courage and dedication,” Hilliard Volunteer
Fire Chief Jerry Johnson said in a statement. “His sacrifice will never
be forgotten.”
‘No way to stop this fire’ without soaking rain
After getting a firsthand look at firefighting efforts in southeast
Georgia, Gov. Brian Kemp told reporters that state officials believe 87
homes burned in rural Brantley County this week are the most destroyed
by a single wildfire in the state's history.
An additional 35 homes have been lost to a larger fire burning in
sparsely populated Clinch and Echols counties near the Florida state
line, Kemp said. That blaze has burned about 50 square miles (129 square
kilometers), an area twice the size of Manhattan.
Kemp said officials suspect the Brantley County was sparked by a foil
party balloon that touched live power lines, creating an electrical arc
that ignited the ground. He said investigators suspect the larger fire
started with a man welding a gate outside.
Spread across nearly 12 square miles (31 square kilometers) and still
growing, the Brantley County blaze was 15% contained Friday, the Georgia
Forestry Commission said. An estimated 4,000 homes in the county were
under evacuation orders Friday, said commission spokesperson Seth
Hawkins.
“There’s no way to stop this fire,” Kemp said. “They’re having to
contain the flanks and the back of it and then, hopefully, we get a
change in the weather.”
No fire deaths or injuries have been reported in Georgia.
Firefighters are battling more than 150 other wildfires in Georgia and
Florida that have sent smoky haze into places far from the flames,
triggering air quality warnings for some cities.
‘We’ve lost everything, but I'm one of the lucky ones'
Michael Gibson was at his job Thursday at a chicken feed producer when
his fiancee called urging him to come home. By the time he arrived,
firefighters were already on the road where Gibson, his fiancee and
their four children lived. He said he took his family to safety and
tried to return to salvage belongings, but police stopped him.
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Michael Gibson and his fiancée Tabitha Enke sit inside their camper
after losing their home during the Brantley Highway 82 fire, Friday,
April 24, 2026, in Nahunta, Ga. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)
Gibson said the fire consumed his mobile home and one beside it
where his fiancee's brother lived. His family has been staying in a
camper on a relative's property.
“We’ve lost everything, but I’m one of the lucky ones.” Gibson said
Friday. “We’ve been prepared to leave. And I’m truly blessed to have
my family and to have somewhere to sleep. ... A lot of people in my
county didn’t make it out with the clothes on their backs.”
Jennifer Murphy said she had little time to react when firefighters
knocked at her door in the Brantley County community of Hortense.
She said she barely had a chance to gather her dog, Chip, and a
single bag of belongings before firefighters urgently helped her
walk down her wheelchair ramp and grab a rolling walker from her van
outside.
“It was like, 'Get out now, right now. You’ve got to leave,’” Murphy
said Friday at the local church where she had spent the night on a
couch.
Firefighters are hosing down homes, trying to limit destruction
While crews with bulldozers work to clear fire breaks around the
burning areas, firefighters from dozens of local agencies have
focused on protecting nearby homes and other structures — clearing
away dry brush and using hoses and sprinklers to keep houses and
yards wet.
"We’ve definitely had the local fire guys out there literally hosing
stuff down,” said Hawkins of the forestry commission.
In Florida, firefighters were battling more than 120 wildfires
Friday, mostly in the state’s northern half. Fire crews in Georgia
responded to 31 new and relatively small blazes Thursday, the state
forestry commission said.
Officials say soaking rain is badly needed to snuff out the large
fires, and that possible showers forecast this weekend won't bring
enough rainfall. There's also a chance of thunderstorms, raising
concerns that lightning could spark more fires.
"It is going to take 8 to 10 inches before we can walk away from
these fires,” said Johnny Sabo, director of the Georgia Forestry
Commission.
He said long-range forecasts predict less than average rainfall
until July.
___
Bynum reported from Savannah, Georgia. Associated Press journalist
Jeff Amy contributed from Atlanta
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