Governor Nathan Deal Friday declared a state of emergency for four southeast Georgia counties plagued by wildfires.
More than 20,000 acres are burning. Coffee, Long, Bacon and Clinch counties are under states of emergency.

Eric Mosley with the Georgia Forestry Commission says people in 60 Homerville households are back in their homes after fire forced them out Thursday night.

“All of those homes though were saved. Local firefighting crews were on the scene and did an excellent job of protecting homes and life.”

Mosley says the state is ripe for fires because of low humidity, high temperatures and high winds. He says while no burn ban is in place, all burn permits are suspended. He cautions Georgians against burning outside.

“If they do have debris piles to burn please hold off. Wait for rain. Wait for fire conditions to subside. And call their local Georgia Forestry Commission office before they burn.”

Also Friday, the federal government authorized federal funds to reimburse the state’s costs in fighting the two largest fires.

Tags: Long County, Coffee County, Clinch County, wildfire, Gov. Nathan Deal, Bacon County