2026 Georgia wildfires

2026 Georgia wildfires
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The 2026 Georgia wildfires are a series of active wildfires currently ongoing in Georgia.

Background

While "fire season" varies every year in Georgia, most wildfires occur in between January and April, with a second, smaller peak in the fall (October–December). Fire conditions can be exacerbated by drought, strong winds, and vegetation growth. Climate change is leading to increased temperatures, lower humidity levels , and drought conditions that are happening more often.[1]

The Pineland Road fire on April 23 as viewed on satellite imagery producing smoke in south-west Georgia.

In February, a deficit of rain occurred across the southern half of the state which resulted in drought conditions, and by April, had significantly intensified into D3 (extreme) and pockets of D4 (exceptional) drought. Several fires sparked halfway into the month due to consistent red flag warning conditions, with two fires (Pineland Road fire and Highway 82 Fire) ending up growing to become quite large for the state and caused considerable destruction.[2][3]

List of wildfires

The following are a list of fires that burned more than 1,000 acres (400 ha), produced significant structural damage, or resulted in casualties.

Name County Acres Start date Containment date Notes Ref.
Lamar Bennett Trail Ware 1,075 March 29 March 30 [4]
Sargent Clinch, Baker (FL), Columbia (FL) 2,523 April 2 June 3 [5]
Pineland Road Clinch, Echols 32,031 April 18 June 10 Caused evacuations for the community of Fruitland and destroyed at least 30 structures. [6][7][8]
Highway 82 Brantley, Wayne 22,420 April 20 June 10 At least 100 structures have been destroyed, caused numerous evacuations for the town of Atkinson, Manningtown, Waynesville, Browntown and surrounding communities. [9][10][11][12]

References

  1. ↑ "Drought Information Statement for North and Central Georgia" (PDF). weather.gov. National Weather Service. Retrieved February 19, 2026.
  2. ↑ Rainwater, Sydney; Press, The Associated (April 24, 2026). "'Most in History': Over 120 homes destroyed, nearly 1,000 threatened by South Ga. wildfires". www.walb.com. Retrieved April 25, 2026.
  3. ↑ "Hundreds of wildfires burn across Florida and Georgia". www.bbc.com. April 23, 2026. Retrieved April 25, 2026.
  4. ↑ "Lamar Bennett Trail Fire Map". Watch Duty. Retrieved March 29, 2026.
  5. ↑ "Sargent Fire Map". Watch Duty. Retrieved April 3, 2026.
  6. ↑ "Clinch Pineland Road Fire Map". Watch Duty. Retrieved April 19, 2026.
  7. ↑ Williams, Ross (April 24, 2026). "Historic Georgia wildfires continue to burn largely uncontained with no end in sight • Georgia Recorder". Georgia Recorder. Retrieved April 25, 2026.
  8. ↑ "Pineland Road fire in Georgia now more than 32,000 acres". firstcoastnews.com. April 24, 2026. Retrieved April 25, 2026.
  9. ↑ "Brantley Highway 82 Fire Map". Watch Duty. Retrieved April 20, 2026.
  10. ↑ Foglio, Madison (April 21, 2026). "42 structures destroyed by fire in Brantley County, county manager says". Action News Jax. Cox Media Group. Retrieved April 22, 2026.
  11. ↑ Rodriguez, Aaron Farrar, Briana Brownlee, Jesse Hanson, Francine Frazier, Kaitlyn Shemenski, John Asebes, Victor (April 25, 2026). "Brantley County firefighters continue to battle 9K-acre wildfire". WJXT. Retrieved April 25, 2026.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  12. ↑ Daniel, Sam (May 2, 2026). "Highway 82 fire now 45% contained in Brantley County". FOX 5 Atlanta. Retrieved May 4, 2026.
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