BRANTLEY COUNTY, Ga. — As the Highway 82 Fire fight in Brantley County wraps up its ninth day, people displaced or evacuated by the fire are learning their new reality.
As of Thursday afternoon, Brantley County Manager Joey Cason says over 100 dwellings have been destroyed by the fire.
We asked Cason what he thinks the biggest struggle for residents is right now.
“The biggest struggles we’ve been hearing is first, why can’t we get in faster? And we’re working fervently to get the whole area open,” said Cason. “Beyond that…the folks that are getting back and finding out what they’ve lost and what they might need is ‘how do we begin to provide for those needs?’”
We also asked Cason what the county is doing for people who don’t have insurance on their homes. He says the funds that have been donated will be handled by the local Georgia Family Connection nonprofit.
“We’ve created a board there. We’re going to take all of those funds. They will be disseminated by that board, but we will hopefully be able to provide support for everyone that doesn’t have insurance,” Cason said.
Foglio asked Cason if he believes we are past the worst part of the fire.
“That’s a great question. So I would tell you, we’re at about 32% containment now. I would say if we don’t have any major flare-ups today, we may be past that number. I can’t say we’re past the worst because you know you’ve heard me say, as we mentioned earlier, that it’s a dynamic fire event and the wind could change all of that in a matter of minutes,” Cason said.
Officials say that this coming weekend, they are putting together a multi-agency resource center for people affected by the fire to use.
For more information on that - click here.
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