Waycross, Ga.
Firefighters were making slow progress Thursday against two wildfires that have forced more than 1,000 people from their homes and destroyed 14 houses as they spread over more than 45 square miles of tinder-dry forest in southeast Georgia.The fires threatened the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge, one of the nation's best-preserved wetland areas, with one reaching the outer edges of the refuge, said Eric Mosley, spokesman for the Georgia Forestry Commission.
That fire — the larger of the two — burned into a wet prairie area and slowed, officials said.
The smaller fire, a little over 3 square miles, had burned to within five miles of the refuge by Thursday morning but was mostly contained, said Shawn Gillette, a spokesman for the refuge.
Read More
