An unusually large number of wildfires are burning across the US southeast, where scientists say the threat of fire has been amplified by a combination of extreme drought, gusty winds, climate change and dead trees still littering some forests after being toppled by Hurricane Helene in 2024.
In northern Florida, the Nassau County Sheriff's Office said volunteer firefighter James "Kevin" Crews suffered an unspecified medical emergency while suppressing a brush fire.
Crews was rushed to a hospital where he died on Thursday evening, according to a news release posted to social media.
"Kevin was the epitome of courage and dedication," Hilliard Volunteer Fire Chief Jerry Johnson said in a statement. "His sacrifice will never be forgotten."
After getting a firsthand look at firefighting efforts in southeast Georgia, Governor Brian Kemp told reporters that state officials believe 87 homes burned in rural Brantley County this week are the most destroyed by a single wildfire in the state's history.
An additional 35 homes have been lost to a larger fire burning in sparsely populated Clinch and Echols counties near the Florida state line, Kemp said. That blaze has burned about 129 sq km - an area twice the size of Manhattan.
Kemp said officials suspect the Brantley County was sparked by a foil party balloon that touched live power lines, creating an electrical arc that ignited the ground.
He said investigators suspect the larger fire started with a man welding a gate outside.
Spread across nearly 31 sq km and still growing, the Brantley County blaze was 15 per cent contained on Friday, the Georgia Forestry Commission said.
An estimated 4000 homes in the county were under evacuation orders Friday, said commission spokesperson Seth Hawkins.
"There's no way to stop this fire," Kemp said. "They're having to contain the flanks and the back of it and then, hopefully, we get a change in the weather."
No fire deaths or injuries have been reported in Georgia.
Firefighters are battling more than 150 other wildfires in Georgia and Florida that have sent smoky haze into places far from the flames, triggering air quality warnings for some cities.
Michael Gibson was at his job at a chicken feed producer when his fiancee called urging him to come home. By the time he arrived, firefighters were already on the road where Gibson, his fiancee and their four children lived.
He said he took his family to safety and tried to return to salvage belongings, but police stopped him.
Gibson said the fire consumed his mobile home and one beside it where his fiancee's brother lived.
"We've lost everything, but I'm one of the lucky ones," he said.
"We've been prepared to leave. And I'm truly blessed to have my family and to have somewhere to sleep."
In Florida, firefighters were battling more than 120 wildfires on Friday, mostly in the US state's northern half.
Officials say soaking rain is badly needed to snuff out the large fires, and that possible showers forecast this weekend won't bring enough rainfall.
"It is going to take (20 to 25 centimetres) before we can walk away from these fires," said Johnny Sabo, director of the Georgia Forestry Commission.
