Emily Jones

And that means the trees, the underbrush, everything is just super dry.

It's catching fire really quickly.

And the fire officials I spoke to yesterday said it's unlikely this is going to be over anytime soon.

People are pretty shaken.

They're not used to dealing with wildfires here.

They've seen hurricanes, but not fires like the ones we see now.

So this is a community near Brunswick.

It's a pretty rural area, though.

There's lots of forest land and the evacuation orders are popping up really suddenly because the fire is changing direction suddenly with the wind.

Fire crews from all over Georgia have flocked to this rural area in the state's southeast.

Local officials have asked for more help.

The blaze seemed mostly under control a couple of days ago.

Gail Schumann says she didn't even know there was a fire nearby.

Then her neighbor's shed caught fire.

And before you know it, we had fire all around surrounding us.

Schumann got lucky.

Her house survived.

But the fire destroyed the pump for her well, so she's staying at a nearby church for now.

More people have been forced to evacuate as the shifting winds send the fire in new directions.

For NPR News, I'm Emily Jones in Nehana, Georgia.