Georgia Wildfire Flares Up in Okefenokee Swamp

By The Associated Press

WAYCROSS, Ga. – Wildfire spread rapidly Tuesday through the Okefenokee Swamp, fueled by dense and dry trees and brush, and firefighters tried to contain the blaze before it could spread onto private land in southeast Georgia.

The swamp fire, less than 10 miles southeast of Waycross, sent up a towering cloud of smoke near the entrance to the private, nonprofit Okefenokee Swamp Park. Wildfires have burned 53,000 acres, or about 67 square miles, of forest parched by drought here in the past eight days.

Byron Haire, a spokesman for the Georgia Forestry Commission, said the fire appeared to be moving eastward away from Waycross, a city of 15,300 people.

“This is a serious matter in that it’s moving. It’s a full-blown wildfire,” Haire said Tuesday evening. “The concern is that the swamp-edge [fire] break won’t hold it.”

The fire started April 16 when a downed power line ignited tinder- dry trees in Ware County, part of a large area of southeast Georgia parched by severe drought. Officials said Tuesday the blaze was 50 percent contained by fire breaks plowed along its perimeter.

But winds have kept shifting direction over the past week, threatening to cause pockets of smoldering embers to flare back to life.

Ware County residents who have watched firefighters keep the blaze from their homes are keeping a nervous watch.

“A fire this size, a hot spot could flare up at any time. It’s going to take a lot of rain to get it down,” said Alan Davis, a 57- year-old sound technician who lives in Manor, a tiny community of 500 people 15 miles southwest of Waycross.

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