Brantley County Manager Joey Cason described the situation as "dynamic" in a Saturday morning video posted on social media and urged residents to "please evacuate" if ordered to do so. "This fire will move very quickly when the winds arrive later today," he said. The fire, named the Highway 82 Fire, has been burning since Monday and has destroyed at least 87 homes. Georgia Governor Brian Kemp said on Friday that this is the highest number of homes destroyed in a single fire in the state's history. The fire was sparked by a foil balloon that struck a live power line, creating an electrical arc and igniting flammable material on the ground. An infrared flight detecting heat was conducted on Friday evening, helping officials map the fire more accurately. A statement on Saturday indicated that the fire has scorched over 14.8 square miles and is only about 10% contained. Meanwhile, another fire about 70 miles to the southwest, in Clinch and Echols counties near the Florida border, has burned more than 46.9 square miles and destroyed at least 35 homes. That fire was sparked by a spark from welding operations and was also about 10% contained by Saturday noon. Firefighters are simultaneously battling over 150 other wildfires in Georgia and Florida, which have sent smoke haze hundreds of miles away, causing air quality warnings in some cities. An unusually high number of fires this season is being recorded across the southeastern United States. Scientists say the fire risk is heightened by a combination of extreme drought, strong winds, climate change, and dried-out trees still covering some forests after being toppled by Hurricane Helene in 2024. In northern Florida, a volunteer firefighter from the Nassau County Sheriff's Office, James "Kevin" Crews, died Thursday evening after suffering an undefined medical condition while fighting a low-vegetation fire. No casualties or injuries from the fires have been reported in Georgia so far.