[img]http://www.reuters.com/resources/r/?m=02&d=20070509&t=2&i=767922&w=450[/img]
A Los Angeles City fireman sprays water from the roof of one of the houses threatened by a brush fire in Griffith Park, Los Angeles May 8, 2007. REUTERS/Mario Anzuoni

[img]http://www.reuters.com/resources/r/?m=02&d=20070509&t=2&i=768014&w=450[/img]
Los Angeles City firemen spray water from the roof of one of the houses threatened by a brush fire in Griffith Park, Los Angeles May 8, 2007. REUTERS/Mario Anzuoni

[img width=221 height=320]http://www.reuters.com/resources/r/?m=02&d=20070509&t=2&i=766854&w=[/img]
Los Angeles City fire helicopter makes a water-drop on a brush fire fed by high winds, low humidity and unseasonably hot weather in Griffith Park in Los Angeles May 8, 2007. REUTERS/Gus Ruelas

[img]http://www.reuters.com/resources/r/?m=02&d=20070509&t=2&i=767919&w=450[/img]
Los Angeles City firemen watch as a brush fire burns down the hill in Griffith Park, Los Angeles May 8, 2007. REUTERS/Mario Anzuoni

[img]http://www.reuters.com/resources/r/?m=02&d=20070509&t=2&i=767925&w=450[/img]
Los Angeles City firemen spray water to protect houses threatened by a brush fire in Griffith Park, Los Angeles May 8, 2007. REUTERS/Mario Anzuoni

[img width=221 height=320]http://www.reuters.com/resources/r/?m=02&d=20070509&t=2&i=768192&w=[/img]
Los Angeles City firefighters prepare to make a stand near the Greek Theatre after a brush fire fed by high winds, low humidity and unseasonably hot weather in Griffith Park flared up and changed directions after being partially contained in Los Angeles May 8, 2007. REUTERS/Gus Ruelas

Bron: Reuters

Inmates from the Georgia Department of Corrections use rakes last week to extinguish the remains of a fire in Waycross.

(CNN) -- Two boys have been arrested in connection with three Georgia wildfires, part of a string of blazes that have scorched more than 100,000 acres in southern Georgia in the past month, authorities said Thursday.

The boys, ages 12 and 16, have been charged with criminal damage to property and released to their parents' custody.

The arrests came after a bloodhound used by the Georgia Forestry Commission's arson task force followed a footprint from the start point of one fire and found a spot where teenagers hang out, according to Darryl Jones, a member of the task force.

"We followed the evidence and got to a juvenile who confessed," he said on CNN's "Newsroom."

The fires that investigators say are connected to the two boys have been contained, The Associated Press reported.

More than 1,000 wildfires have been reported in 21 Georgia counties in the past month, Jones said. One fire has crossed into Florida.

Jones said the boys were charged in connection with three of the fires.

Meanwhile, residents of the small town of Moniac, Georgia, about 25 miles west of Jacksonville, Florida, were out of their homes after being ordered to leave Wednesday as the Bugaboo Scrub Fire on the southeastern edge of the Okefenokee Swamp burned closer.

Officials said the order affected about 1,000 people, according to Kris Eriksen, manager of the joint information center on the southeast Georgia fires.

The Bugaboo Scrub Fire, which has consumed 68,650 acres since it began Saturday with a lightning strike about 16 miles west of Folkston, Georgia, is threatening the town of Fargo, about 45 miles east of Valdosta.

"The added concern today is the shifting winds" from Subtropical Storm Andrea, now downgraded to a subtropical depression, off the Florida coast, Eriksen said.

"We'll move resources as we have to," she added.

The Bugaboo Scrub Fire also has closed the Stephen C. Foster State Park, which usually attracts crowds during Mother's Day weekend, Eriksen said.

The sprawling Sweat Farm Road-Big Turnaround Fire, south of Waycross, Georgia, has devoured 116,482 acres so far in Ware and Charlton counties, according to the Georgia Forestry Commission Web site.

The blaze began April 16 after a power line went down and sparked dry brush.

On Wednesday, authorities in Charlton County issued a mandatory evacuation order for the Davis community, a group of about 20 houses, because the flames were creeping closer to them.

The fire also has forced the closure of the Okefenokee Nature and Wildlife Reserve as well as parts of U.S. Highway 1 and state Route 177, an incident report said.

In the same region, the Kneeknocker/Race Track/Fort Mudge/Brown Town/Easter Day fires have burned more than 3,200 acres in Brantley and Ware counties, the Roundabout Swamp Fire has scorched 5,857 acres in Atkinson County and the Floyds Island Prairie Fire has consumed 1,231 acres in Ware County.

More than 1,000 personnel are battling the Georgia blazes, many of which erupted during drought conditions.

Southeast Georgia and northeast Florida are suffering from extreme drought conditions, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

The region has received less than 8.5 inches of rain since the beginning of the year, the Georgia Automated Environmental Monitoring Network said on its Web site.

"The water table is very low in the Okefenokee Swamp," Eriksen said. "The little bits of rain we've been getting haven't helped."

The drought conditions, plus few fires in recent years, mean there's plentiful fuel for wildfires, she said.

"You combine all the dead and down fuel [dry brush] with what would be your green fuel to slow it, and that's also drought-stressed, and the combo isn't going to slow a fire down, you're going to have a bigger fire," Eriksen said.

Florida fire officials reported Thursday that 236 fires were burning across the state, consuming, 87,162 acres.

Gov. Charlie Crist, who declared a state of emergency May 3 because of the drought and wildfire danger, deployed the National Guard to help contain the blazes.

Fires are burning in 54 of Florida's 67 counties.

Copyright 2007 CNN.