![](http://i.a.cnn.net/cnn/2007/WEATHER/04/20/georgia.wildfires.ap/story.flames.irpt.jpg)
Carlos Nelson sent this photo of firefighters at work in Waycross, Georgia, on Thursday.
Storyhighlights
• Wind could push fire into area where firefighters can reach it
• Blaze has destroyed 18 homes; 1,000 people evacuated
• Fire started Monday when tree fell on power line
WAYCROSS, Georgia (AP) -- Gusting wind could help firefighters Friday by pushing a 45-square-mile wildfire from the boggy Okefenokee Swamp to an upland area where it would be easier to control, officials said.
![](http://i.a.cnn.net/cnn/2007/WEATHER/04/20/georgia.wildfires.ap/top.wildfire.ap.gif)
The 20 mph wind forecast Friday could intensify the blaze, which has destroyed 18 houses and forced at least 1,000 people from their homes.
"The fire will be fierce today, but it will be in a place where we can get at it," said Alan Dozier, the state forestry commission's chief firefighter.
The flames jumped a fire break on Thursday into the Okefenokee Swamp and sent a thick haze of smoke through Waycross, a city of about 15,000, said Robin Cole, a spokeswoman for the Forestry Commission.
![](http://i.a.cnn.net/cnn/2007/WEATHER/04/20/georgia.wildfires.ap/story.assist.irpt.jpg)
A homeowner helps a firefighter battle the blaze, which destroyed 18 homes.
About 5,000 people, many of them senior citizens, were urged to leave because of the smoke. Some spent Thursday night at a shelter set up at a middle school.
"We're staying with my friend, a bunch of us -- about 25," said Denise Lott, 45, who fled her mobile home Monday with her grown sons and her bedridden, 80-year-old father. "We're sleeping on floors and in chairs."
Officials said they were unsure when most residents who evacuated their homes would be allowed to return.
"The fire's going to push south, which means Waycross isn't going to see so much heavy smoke and the fire's going away from the town," Cole said Friday. She said higher humidity would also help blunt the fire's spread.
![](http://i.a.cnn.net/cnn/2007/WEATHER/04/20/georgia.wildfires.ap/story.chopper.irpt.jpg)
A helicopter drops water on the Georgia wildfire.
The blaze started Monday when a tree fell on a power line. It raced through forested areas, but Cole said it had not entered the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge, one of the nation's best-preserved wetland areas. A smaller fire, about 3 square miles, was contained Thursday, said Eric Mosley, spokesman for the Georgia Forestry Commission.
![](http://i.a.cnn.net/cnn/2007/WEATHER/04/20/georgia.wildfires.ap/story.thankyou.irpt.jpg)
A sign in a Waycross resident's yard thanks firefighters for their efforts.
No deaths were reported, but several firefighters were treated for smoke inhalation or injuries.
Copyright 2007 The Associated Press.
![](http://i.a.cnn.net/cnn/2007/WEATHER/04/21/georgia.wildfires.ap/top.fire.chopper.ap.gif)
Storyhighlights
• NEW: Wind keeps fire away from city of Waycross
• NEW: Blaze just one mile from Okefenokee wildlife refuge
• NEW: Wind could reverse Saturday, send fire toward Waycross
• Blaze destroys 18 homes; more than 1,000 people evacuated
WAYCROSS, Georgia (AP) -- Gusting winds fueled the spread of wildfires Friday in southeast Georgia, where about 58 square miles of forest were burning and flames swept closer to the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge.
The southward-blowing wind kept the largest wildfire, which covered about 35,000 acres Friday, from spreading in the direction of Waycross, a city of 15,300 people just northeast of the massive blaze, said Eric Mosley, a state forestry commission spokesman.
![](http://i.a.cnn.net/cnn/2007/WEATHER/04/21/georgia.wildfires.ap/story.fire.sleep.ap.gif)
A firefighter grabs some sleep Friday on the bumper of a fire truck in Waycross, Georgia.
"We think tomorrow the wind may shift, reverse course and send the fire back toward Waycross," Mosley said. He said the fire was about 35 percent contained.
By Friday afternoon, the large fire had also spread to within about a mile from the refuge, one of the nation's best-preserved wetland areas.
Fire officials had to evacuate 10 additional homes Friday that were threatened by the spreading fire. Mosley said he did not know how many people lived in those homes.
The fire, which started Monday when a tree fell on a power line, has destroyed 18 homes.
About 1,000 people were forced to evacuate earlier this week, and 5,000 more had been urged to evacuate their homes voluntarily Thursday because of potential health hazards from heavy smoke blowing into Waycross.
A smaller fire, which burned a little over 3 square miles near the town of Fargo in southeast Georgia, had been about 80 percent contained Friday, said Okefenokee refuge spokesman John Calabrese.
Firefighting crews dumped water from helicopters on Friday to put out hot spots.
No deaths were reported, but several firefighters were treated for smoke inhalation or injuries. The cause of the smaller fire was still unknown.
Schools remained closed Friday for a fourth day in Ware County to avoid running school buses on smoke-clouded roads.
Copyright 2007 The Associated Press.
![](http://i.a.cnn.net/cnn/2007/US/04/27/georgia.wildfires.ap/top.wildfires.wjxt.jpg)
Wildfire roars through woods in south Georgia's Ware County on Thursday.
Storyhighlights
• Blazes rage on in drought-stricken area near vast swamp
• Many residents return to homes after evacuations
• 16-mile stretch of U.S. Highway 1 remains closed
• Fires have scorched 95 square miles in 12 days, destroyed 22 homes
WAYCROSS, Georgia (AP) -- Firefighters worked Friday to keep wildfires from spreading to miles of drought-stricken forest near the Okefenokee Swamp as most residents evacuated from more than 100 homes were allowed to return.
Wildfires have destroyed 22 homes and charred about 61,000 acres, or 95 square miles, of forest in southeast Georgia in 12 days.
"The fire continues and that area is still being monitored closely," said Georgia Emergency Management Agency spokeswoman Tracy J. Smith. "We don't want people to get comfortable in that area. The winds have been extremely active."
(Watch families forced to flee with only the clothes they're wearing)
Jamey Cribbs, 21, and his family were ordered to flee their home Thursday for the second time this week in tiny Braganza, three miles southeast of Waycross. But he and his father sneaked in along back roads overnight to make sure no burning ash from the fire fell on their home at the edge of the swamp.
"I'm ready for it to be over," Cribbs said. "It's only been two weeks, but that seems like a lifetime."
![](http://i.a.cnn.net/cnn/2007/US/04/27/georgia.wildfires.ap/story.wildfire.house.gi.gif)
Waycross, Georgia, resident Retha Thrift looks over remains of her home.
U.S. Highway 1, which links Waycross with Jacksonville, Florida, remained closed for 16 miles near the entrance of the private, nonprofit Okefenokee Swamp Park.
A second, much smaller fire burned near Nahunta, east of Waycross, where officials said about 30 homes had to be evacuated. Those evacuations were still in effect as of late Friday.
Firefighters contained the blaze near Nahunta last week, but gusty winds caused it to flare back to life Thursday afternoon.
(Watch flames devour trees)
Valdosta firefighter Jeff Thibodeau, who joined the army of firefighters from Georgia and neighboring states helping fight the blaze near Waycross, spent the night shift Thursday replenishing firetrucks with water to keep the fire at bay in the swamp.
"It's aggravating, because you just want to grab it by the throat and put it out," Thibodeau said after coming off his shift Friday morning. "This fire is so big, there's not enough water in the state of Georgia to put it out. All you can do is let it run its course in the woods and protect the structures."
Jason Thornton was losing hope anybody could protect his rural Ware County home in the swamp fire's path. A sheriff's deputy arrived at his door Thursday afternoon ordering his wife, Misty, to leave immediately while the 32-year-old truck driver was at work.
(Watch volunteers try to save a smoky ghost town)
She wasn't even allowed to collect the suitcases and duffel bags they had already packed with spare clothes, a few valuables and insurance and tax documents. Misty Thornton, 28, said she hadn't slept in two days.
"We're basically losing everything we have," Jason Thornton said Thursday night outside a middle-school auditorium where officials gave residents updates on the fire -- but little hope for the Thorntons.
"Things we have built over 11 years, now it could all be gone in seconds."
![](http://i.a.cnn.net/cnn/2007/US/04/27/georgia.wildfires.ap/story.wildfire.trees.gi.gif)
Blackened trees are silhouetted against a smoky sky near Waycross.
Copyright 2007 The Associated Press.
• Firefighters in Georgia douse small fires across from main blaze
• Main fire remains contained on other side of freeway
• New blaze 30 miles away consumes 700 acres
• Shift in wind blows smoke away from towns
WAYCROSS, Georgia (AP) -- A few spot fires ignited Saturday afternoon across a highway from a massive wildfire, and firefighters struggled to put them out before they could spread in the miles of tinder-dry forest beyond.
Several rural homes near the new fires were being evacuated Saturday evening, Georgia Forestry Commission spokesman Eric Mosley said.
About 30 miles from Waycross, another fire broke out late Saturday in Atkinson County and burned at least 700 acres, said Buzz Weiss, spokesman for the Georgia Emergency Management Agency. It posed no immediate threat to people living in the area.
The larger fire has consumed nearly 100 square miles of drought-parched forest and swampland in southeast Georgia since it ignited April 16.
Firefighters were patrolling a closed 16-mile stretch of U.S. 1, which links Waycross with Jacksonville, Florida. They set controlled burns to prevent the blaze from spreading into acres of forest beyond the road.
"We are still in the throes of a very, very difficult effort and we anticipate this fire burning intensely for at least another week -- and maybe another month," Weiss said.
Weary residents welcomed a shifting wind that blew the smoke from the towns and into the swampland Saturday morning.
About half the blaze was under control, emergency responders said. A separate smaller blaze ignited near U.S. 301 after a passing train leaked fuel, but Weiss said firefighters have contained 90 percent of that fire.
"Right now we just have a bad situation where we have no rain, extremely low humidity and we're dealing on a day-to-day basis with wind gusts and shifts," Weiss said. "Those are the real recipes for a fire disaster -- and that's what we're coping with."
Copyright 2007 The Associated Press.