For days, wildfires have been scorching tens of thousands of acres of land in Florida and Georgia, with one of the blazes killing a volunteer firefighter.
On Thursday evening, James 'Kevin' Crews succumbed to an unspecified medical emergency while battling a brush fire in Hilliard, a Florida town near the Georgia border.
Crews, a member of the Hilliard Volunteer Fire Department, received life-saving measures at the scene but later died at the hospital at 6.50pm, according to First Coast News.
'Kevin was the epitome of courage and dedication,' Hilliard Volunteer Fire Chief Jerry Johnson said in a statement. 'His sacrifice will never be forgotten.'
Across northern Florida and southeastern Georgia, there have been dozens of individual fires that have broken out over this past week. Experts say extremely dry weather and drought conditions have allowed the fires to flourish.
In Georgia, officials say more than 120 homes have been destroyed so far in two major blazes. No fire deaths or injuries have been reported in the state.
The Pineland Road fire in Clinch County, which first ignited last weekend, has now grown to more than 31,000 acres, according to public data. It is only 10 percent contained.
Smoke rising from the Pineland Road fire in Clinch County, Georgia, on Wednesday. This wildfire has grown to 31,000 acres and is only 10 percent contained
An aircraft drops a flame-retardant chemical mixture over the Pineland Road fire on Friday
Northeastern Florida has also seen a number of serious fires. James 'Kevin' Crews, a member of the Hilliard Volunteer Fire Department, succumbed to an unspecified medical emergency on Thursday while battling a brush fire in Hilliard. He was 59
One mobile home community in a wooded area off Pineland Road was completely destroyed. Over 23 trailers burned to the ground, along with 12 ATVs, according to WALB-TV.
The Brantley County fire had scorched more than 9,500 acres of land as of Saturday. Firefighters are still trying to shrink the flames, though crews estimate it is still just 10 percent contained.
Michael Gibson lost his home in this fire. He lived there along with his fiancée and four children, he told the Associated Press.
He returned home from his job on Thursday to see firefighters on his property. After getting his family to safety, he tried to return to retrieve some of his belongings but was stopped by police.
'We’ve lost everything, but I’m one of the lucky ones,' Gibson said, explaining that he and his family are staying with a relative. 'We’ve been prepared to leave. And I’m truly blessed to have my family and to have somewhere to sleep. ... A lot of people in my county didn’t make it out with the clothes on their backs.'
Governor Brian Kemp said during a press conference on Friday that officials suspect that the cause of the Brantley County fire was a foil party balloon that floated up and made contact with power lines. This, he said, caused an electrical arc that ignited the ground.
Kemp said federal authorities assessed these fires as being the 'two most dangerous, biggest, problematic fires anywhere' in the nation.
'We need a change in the weather, but until we get that, we're just going to stay after these fires and do everything we can to get them contained,' Kemp added.
Flames from the Brantley County fire burning in a wooded area on Wednesday
Many areas of southeastern Georgia have been reduced to rubble-filled fields
Michael Gibson, who lost his home in the Brantley County fire, looks on as his daughter jump ropes outside the trailer of a relative the family is staying with
Between Georgia and Florida, there are more than 150 wildfires still being fought by fire crews
According to the latest US Drought Monitor map, 98 percent of Georgia is facing 'exceptional', 'extreme' or 'severe' drought - the first, second and third most serious levels, respectively, of drought.
Nearly 93 percent of Florida is experiencing these same conditions. The largest ongoing fire in the northeastern part of the state is the Railroad/Crews Road fire, which has swelled to nearly 5,000 acres. It is roughly 70 percent contained.
The largest fire statewide this week ignited in northern Broward County. It burned nearly 10,000 acres before it was fully contained.
There are well over two dozen active wildfires in Florida with varying levels of containment, according to the state's forest service.
Between Georgia and Florida, there are more than 150 wildfires still being fought by fire crews.
These fires have produced smoke that is being carried far away from the flames, triggering air quality warnings for some cities, including Jacksonville, Savannah, Brunswick, Valdosta and Waycross.