Georgia wildfires: New details revealed in possible causes of blazes
Officials say winds and humidity could decrease the containment.
As two major wildfires continue to ravage southern Georgia, state officials and investigators said Friday the blazes may have been sparked by two unnatural events, one of which involved a wayward balloon.
Gov. Brian Kemp said Highway 82 Brantley County fire has burned through 7,500 acres as of Friday afternoon and was 15% contained. In nearby Clinch County, the Pineland Road Fire has burned through 31,000 acres and was 10% contained, he added.
Kemp revealed that investigators may have found the causes of the fires.
The Pinelands Road Fire, which started over the weekend on mostly private forest land, started after someone was welding their gate, according to the governor.
"The sparks fell on the ground, it started a fire and they couldn't put it out," he said.
The Highway 82 fire started on Monday and was caused by a balloon landing on a power line, according to the evidence collected by investigators so far Kemp said.
"It created an [electric] arc and then caught the ground on fire," he said.
Kemp said investigators and firefighters are still hard at work to contain the blazes and determine more details about its origins.
"We got the two most dangerous, biggest, problematic fires anywhere in the United States within, you know, really just a very small area that we're having to fight," he said.
As of Friday afternoon, no deaths have been reported. Kemp said a combined 122 homes were destroyed in both fires and over 900 homes are endangered by the blazes.
Fire safety officials warned Georgia residents to be cautious and ready for evacuations as the wildfires gripping the state rage on, with changing weather conditions affecting containment.
"If you saw anything yesterday, that containment can move anywhere from 15% to 0% with the wind," Brantley County Manager Jason Cason said Friday morning.
The Brantley County Sheriff's office said Friday that "59 fire departments from across the state [are] working specifically on structure protection efforts as well as 20 dozers and 8 type 6 engines."
"Air resources include small and large helicopters and large air tankers," the sheriff's office said.
A county curfew will be put in place on Friday from 8:30 p.m. to 6:30 a.m. and will continue "until this event is under control," the sheriff's office said.
Heavy smoke from the fires was drifting more than 400 miles, to as far north as Atlanta and prompted air quality warnings for several towns.
-ABC News' Bill Hutchinson, Jessica Gorman and Kyle Reiman contributed to this report.
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