BRANTLEY COUNTY, Ga. — One Brantley County man is picking up the pieces of his business after losing most of it in the Highway 82 wildfire.
“30 years of hard work, not just regular work. It’s been hard work, 30 years, gone,” said Jesse Morgan, Owner of Morgan Automotive auto shop and wrecker service.
This is Morgan’s new reality. It was one of the first structures in the path of the fire.
“When I first came out here it kind of reminds me of what’s going on overseas…where they are dropping bombs,” Morgan said. “That’s the only thing I could think of when you see everything burnt the way it is.”
Morgan says the damage from the fire is going to cost him hundreds of thousands of dollars.
“Probably between 400K and 500 thousand (dollars) if you figure all of that,” Morgan said.
But as Morgan tries to rebuild his business, he’s now facing another issue: dealing with his insurance.
“When I told them the situation, they said that ‘this was caused by an act of God,’” Morgan said. “Since then, the Governor has got on the news and proclaimed that this was started by a balloon. So therefore, if that’s the case, that means that this fire was not an act of God.”
Despite the adversity, Morgan is pushing on.
“I can sit there cry and boo-hoo about it, but that’s not going to fix anything,” he said.
Morgan Automotive is still open.
If you would like to help people like Morgan who are trying to rebuild after the wildfire destroyed so much, scan the QR code below.
If you would like to donate to Morgan directly, click here.
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