Firefighters make haste, extinguish Glynn blazes

Sparks from a passing train are suspected of starting three small brush fires that broke out Tuesday in the Brookman Community, including two that came close to threatening several nearby homes.

Two fires – one about 10 acres and the other estimated at eight acres – broke out around 6 p.m. less than a mile from Emanuel Loop Road and a half mile from each other in southern Glynn County.

Firefighters acted quickly to contain the flames to one side of the railroad tracks. Had the blaze jumped the tracks, it would have threatened several residences, said J.J. Ellis, deputy chief of the Glynn County Fire Department.

At about the same time, firefighters responded to a third, smaller fire near the intersection of Ga. Highways 99 and 32.

Two engines, two Georgia Forestry tractors and a mini pump were dispatched to the Brookman Community.

The fire department had to use logging roads off U.S. 82 to get close to the fires.

Firefighters contained the 10-acre fire in under two hours by clearing 10-foot-wide fire breaks.

Ellis said the wind, which was blowing about 12 mph, was a concern.

“It was burning pretty good when we got here,” Ellis said.

Fire officials suspect the fires were caused by sparks from a passing train. Wind and dry conditions did the rest.

Ellis said they would keep an eye on the fire into the night, but did not expect it to flare up again.

Meanwhile, in Ware County a wildfire fueled by dense, dry trees and brush continued to spread rapidly through the Okefenokee Swamp Tuesday, and firefighters tried to contain it before it could spread to private land.

The 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 away from Waycross.

The blaze was 50 percent contained by fire breaks along its perimeter, officials said Tuesday. But winds keep shifting, threatening to cause pockets of embers to flare back to life.

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

About a dozen residents who live within a mile of the park gathered to nervously watch the orange glow from the fire behind the trees.

The park, bordered by residential areas and privately owned woods, is separate from a federal wildlife refuge where managers have said the wildfire is a good thing.

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 community of 500 people 15 miles southwest of Waycross.

About 50 evacuated Manor residents were still unable to return Tuesday to their homes, while others moved back in.

The fire has destroyed 18 homes in Ware County, and about 1,000 people were forced to evacuate last week. Another 5,000 people in the area were urged to leave voluntarily because of health risks associated with heavy smoke.