Gov. Kemp declares State of Emergency for wildfires. First time in GA since 2007
Georgia’s extreme drought and out-of-control wildfires got the attention of Gov. Brian Kemp Wednesday afternoon.
Kemp officially declared Georgia under a State of Emergency for 91 Georgia counties in response to the ongoing wildfires in south Georgia. Those counties include Muscogee, Harris and Chattahoochee, as well as much of the southern counties near where wildfires are burning over 21,000 acres.
The counties in the State of Emergency are ordered to comply with a ban on outdoor burning.
“With much of Georgia remaining in extreme drought conditions, wildfires have already surpassed the state’s 5-year average and continue to spread,” Kemp said in his news release.
Nearly 99% of the state is in a drought with two-thirds in an extreme drought and all the southernmost counties in an exceptional drought.
The Pineland Road Fire burning in Clinch and Echols counties and the Highway 82 Wildfire burning in Brantley County are being fought with firefighting resources, but aide from the Federal Emergency Management Agency in the form of a grant has been approved.
Three helicopters are dropping water, livestock is being moved, and wildlife is being protected, according to the news release.
Evacuations in certain counties are being updated on Emergency Management Agency Facebook pages and city/county websites.
Accourding to Clinch County News, containment is not expected until May 31, and 64 homes have been threatened while fruitland is under mandatory evacuation.
Wildfires in April are not unusual, but the speed at which the Pineland fire has multiplied is what has state officials so concerned. It went from 3 acres to 9,000 in a day or two, state Sen. Russ Goodman (R-Cogdell) told the Ledger-Enquirer.
Georgia’s last State of Emergency for wildfires was the April 2007 Bugaboo fire in Brantley and Ware counties, which led then-Gov. Sonny Purdue to declare a State of Emergency for 21 counties, according to Firefighter Nation.
This story was originally published April 22, 2026 at 2:38 PM.
