Highway 82 Fire Morning Update Tuesday May 5, 2026 10:30 a.m.
Overview: The Highway 82 fire is located in Brantley County, Georgia and is impacting the communities of Atkinson and Waynesville. The fire began on Monday April 20th. The entire state of Georgia is in a drought with Brantley County being in an exceptional drought. Due to drought conditions and hot and dry weather, this fire continues to be a dynamic, changing situation, challenging firefighting efforts.
The fire is estimated at 22,471 acres and 85% contained.
Resources:
581 Personnel
3 Type 1 Helicopters
1 Type 3 helicopter
2 Type 1 Crews
6 Type 2 IA Crews
1 Camp Crew
2 Ambulance
1 Type 4 engines
48 Type 6 engines
10 Tractor Plows
18 Dozers
6 Water Tenders
1 Excavator
Operations: South of Highway 82, crews will continue to patrol containment lines and extinguish any heat that appears throughout the day. East of Browntown Road along Boots Harrison Road, crews are improving containment lines and continuing mop up around structures. North of Highway 32, crews continue mop up of the deep organic soils and dozer berms using machinery and improving and repairing contingency lines. Further north on Browntown Road moving west to Fendig Road, work continues with timber companies to harvest marketable timber and improve a 200 foot wide fuel break as a contingency line. South of Highway 32 along State Route 110, crews will continue to patrol for any hot spots that might remain. If conditions allow, Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) with infrared technology will assist ground crews in finding remaining hot spots. Firefighters are assessing and repairing impacts from suppression efforts on affected residential properties and rehabilitation actions-including erosion control, hazardous debris removal, and stabilization measures-to reduce secondary damage, protect public safety, and support safe ingress and egress of residents.
Weather and Fire Behavior: Temperatures will continue to trend warmer with highs in the mid 80s. This will promote another drying day with humidity dropping to around 30%. Winds will be from a southeasterly direction, light this morning, but increasing into the 4 to 8 mph range this
afternoon. A mid-afternoon sea-breeze could bring winds out of the southeast east with gusts 14 to18 mph.
Extreme drought in Southeast Georgia over the last several months has dried both the live and dead fuels. In the interior of the fire, seasonally wet areas or bays will continue to smoke as heat remains deep in the organic soil. As leaves and needles continue to fall there will be reburn potential and some isolated tree torching, can be expected well within the fire perimeter. This however should not pose any threat to containment lines.
Donations: For affected community members, Brantley Gas, 114 Satilla Ave, Nahunta, H & S Haulers, 125 Industrial Park, Nahunta, and Brantley County Family Connections, 10305 Main Street, Nahunta are currently accepting donations. Safety: There is a burn ban in place for all counties in south Georgia. Although there was rain over the fire area, the entire region is still in an extended drought and all residents are asked to continue to follow the burn ban in place.
Evacuation Area: For Brantley county evacuations, visit Brantley County Sheriff’s Office Facebook Page or call the Brantley County Sheriff’s Office at 912-674-0195. For evacuations in Wayne County, visit Wanye County Emergency Management Facebook and for evacuations in Glynn County, visit Glynn County Board of Commissioners Facebook Page.
Closures: Georgia Department of Transportation and Georgia State Patrol are closely monitoring the smoke and fog conditions along roadways to maintain public safety along the highway. Highway 32 remains closed between Brownstown Road and State Road 110.
There is a https://tfr.faa.gov/tfr3/?page=detail_6_7751 (TFR) over the fire area to avoid conflict between personal aircraft and firefighting efforts. This includes all recreational and professional unmanned aircraft (drones). If you fly, we can’t.
