![\"Hilliard](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/f1b942e89b8e1ce871510d86c9c838e2.jpeg\"\/)
<\/p>\nA volunteer firefighter in Hilliard, Florida died battling a wildfire there while more than 120 homes have been destroyed in Southeast Georgia and thousands more remain threatened. That\u2019s the largest number of homes Georgia has ever lost to wildfires in the state\u2019s history, Gov. Brian Kemp said Friday.<\/p>\n
At about noon Saturday, the Brantley County Sheriff\u2019s Office ordered more evacuations for Browntown Road from Hwy 82 to Hwy 32. \u201cLEAVE NOW,\u201d a sheriff\u2019s office social media post said.<\/p>\n
The U.S. Highway 82 wildfire has grown overnight to about 9,572 acres, a few thousand acres more than the previous day. The Georgia Forestry Commission said the fire was 10 percent contained.<\/p>\n
That fire has destroyed about 87 homes and business by Saturday morning.<\/p>\n
The Pineland Road Fire in Clinch County grew a few hundred acres to about 31,976 acres, the Georgia Forestry Commission said late Friday. More than 30 homes were destroyed there.<\/p>\n
Destroyed homes in current wildfires most in Georgia\u2019s history<\/p>\n
Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, who toured much of the scorched areas in the southern part of the state Friday, said the 120 homes lost to wildfires in Brantley and Clinch counties are the most in the state\u2019s history.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe two fires we\u2019re fighting, among many others in Georgia, … the Pineland fire and the Highway 82 fire rank No. 1 and 2 in the country,\u201d Kemp said during a news briefing Friday at the Waycross-Ware County Airport. \u201cSo we got the two most dangerous, biggest, problematic fires anywhere in the United States in the small area we\u2019re having to fight. It\u2019s a lot for us to deal with.\u201d<\/p>\n
WATCH: Gov. Brian Kemp gives update on Georgia wildfiresHow Brantley Co. fire started<\/p>\n
Officials said the wildfire in Brantley County was started by a balloon from a kids\u2019 birthday party that landed on a power line and created an arc, which caught the ground on fire.<\/p>\n
Volunteer firefighter dies in Northeast Florida<\/p>\n
The Hilliard Volunteer Fire Department in Nassau County lost one of their members who was battling a blaze there Thursday. James \u201cKevin\u201d Crews was fighting the Old Dixie Highway Fire just south of Henry Smith Road in Hilliard when he began experiencing a medical emergency, a town news release stated Friday.<\/p>\n
He was taken to UF Health on New Kings Road for further treatment and died at the hospital.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Hilliard Volunteer Firefighter James \u201cKevin\u201d Crews<\/p>\n
Northeast FloridaBaker County<\/p>\n
Sargent Fire – 2,523 acres, 81% contained<\/p>\n
Bradford County<\/p>\n
Deden Fire – 180 acres, 50% contained<\/p>\n
Columbia County<\/p>\n
Gun Range Fire – 129 acres, 50% contained<\/p>\n
Clay, Putnam counties<\/p>\n
Railroad Fire – 4743 acres, 70% contained<\/p>\n
Putnam County<\/p>\n
Pace Court Fire – 343 acres, 85% contained<\/p>\n
Mondex 3 Fire – 300 acres, 30% contained<\/p>\n
CLICK HERE<\/a> to view Florida Forestry Commission\u2019s interactive wildfires map<\/p>\n Florida Wildfires Map, 4\/25\/2026<\/p>\n Southeast GeorgiaBrantley County<\/p>\n Highway 82 Fire – 9,572 acres, 10% contained<\/p>\n Mandatory Evacuations:<\/p>\n Browntown Road from Hwy 82 to Hwy 32<\/p>\n Browntown Road from Hwy 82 to Greenleaf Rd<\/p>\n GA-110 (Yellow Pine Rd) to Thrower Rd<\/p>\n From Thrower Rd to Mossy Oak<\/p>\n Highway 110 from Highway 32 to Lane Cemetery Road to include from Lisa Lane to the Satilla River.<\/p>\n Voluntary evacuation<\/p>\n U.S. 301 from the county line to Rowell Road to the west of Highway 110, north to Highway 32 and east of Highway 110 to the county line.<\/p>\n Evacuation shelters<\/p>\n The American Red Cross Shelter\u00a0–\u00a0Day and Night<\/p>\n 100 Genoa Martin Drive, Brunswick, GA 31520<\/p>\n Southside Baptist Church\u00a0–\u00a0Day and Night<\/p>\n 550 School St., Nahunta, GA 31553<\/p>\n Nahunta United Methodist Church –\u00a0Day<\/p>\n 107 E. Cleveland St., Nahunta, GA 31553<\/p>\n Glynn county state of emergency<\/p>\n Glynn County declared a local State of Emergency to ensure resources can be deployed without delay.<\/p>\n Officials there are urging residents living between Highway 82 and Highway 32 from Old Post Road to Highway 99, and those who live on and between Old Post Road and Buck Swamp Road south of Highway 82, to review emergency plans and gather essential items in case conditions worsen and they must evacuate.<\/p>\n Clinch County<\/p>\n Pineland Road Fire – 31,976 acres, 10% contained.<\/p>\n CLICK HERE<\/a> to view Georgia Forestry Commission\u2019s interactive wildfires map<\/p>\n Georgia Wildfire Map, 4\/25\/2026<\/p>\n A firefighter works the Brantley Highway 82 fire, Thursday, April 23, 2026, near Nahunta, Ga. (AP Photo\/Mike Stewart)<\/p>\n A fire burns as the Brantley Highway 82 fire burns, Thursday, April 23, 2026, near Nahunta, Ga. (AP Photo\/Mike Stewart)<\/p>\n A burned vehicle sits near a destroyed home as the Brantley Highway 82 fire burns, Thursday, April 23, 2026, near Nahunta, Ga. (AP Photo\/Mike Stewart)<\/p>\n Fire crews and truck assemble at the Brantley County Airport as they work the Brantley highway 82 fire, Thursday, April 23, 2026, near Nahunta, Ga. (AP Photo\/Mike Stewart)<\/p>\n Firefighters look on as a wildfire burns in Georgia.<\/p>\n >>> STREAM ACTION NEWS JAX LIVE <<<<\/a><\/p>\n [DOWNLOAD: Free Action News Jax app for alerts as news breaks<\/a>]<\/p>\n [SIGN UP: Action News Jax Daily Headlines Newsletter<\/a>] <\/p>\n Click here<\/a> to download the free Action News Jax news and weather apps, click here<\/a> to download the Action News Jax Now app for your smart TV and click here<\/a> to stream Action News Jax live.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A volunteer firefighter in Hilliard, Florida died battling a wildfire there while more than 120 homes have been…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":246474,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[107752,9731,99043,28,30,29,99045,108351,108352,350,108353,108354,69605],"class_list":["post-246473","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-florida","tag-brantley-county","tag-brian-kemp","tag-clinch-county","tag-florida","tag-florida-headlines","tag-florida-news","tag-georgia-forestry-commission","tag-highway-82","tag-hilliard","tag-southeast-georgia","tag-volunteer-firefighter","tag-waycross-ware-county-airport","tag-wildfire"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/246473","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=246473"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/246473\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/246474"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=246473"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=246473"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=246473"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Florida](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/e150c4c8bac5fd61fbf67c119ae5c528.jpeg\"\/)
<\/p>\n![\"Georgia](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/3bf60ecc66b6323b88c2f1f880426081.jpeg\"\/)
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<\/p>\n![\"Firefighters](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/88f5f395088e891d8f77b4cd33d4b05d.jpeg\"\/)
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