The orange glow from the Pineland Road Fire was visible from thirty miles away the night of 24 April 2026. In Brantley County, residents packed vehicles with what they could reach quickly — pets, documents, prescription medications — and drove toward the evacuation zones. Some left with nothing.
By 26 April, Governor Brian Kemp was describing what emergency managers had already confirmed: Georgia was fighting two of the largest wildfires in the state's recorded history simultaneously. The Pineland Road Fire, burning roughly 45 miles east of Valdosta in Brantley County, had consumed more than 32,000 acres — approximately 50 square miles — with containment at less than 20 percent. The U.S. Highway 82 Fire, burning nearby, had grown to 9,572 acres with 10 percent containment. Together, more than 120 homes and businesses had been destroyed across southeast Georgia.
Continue reading to see the full article
