[NASA] Fires Rage in Georgia

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3. Fires Rage in Georgia

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Land charred by the Highway 82 fire is visible near Atkinson in an image captured by the

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(Operational Land Imager) on

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on April 23, 2026. 

NASA Earth Observatory/Michala Garrison

An

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that has gripped the Southeast for months helped fuel two large, destructive, human-caused wildland fires in southern Georgia in April 2026. The Pineland Road and Highway 82 fires together burned more than 50,000 acres (20,000 hectares) as of April 28, according to the

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Satellite images of the fires captured by Landsat 8 show charred forests and residential areas in and around Atkinson (above) and Fruitland (below). The images are

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(

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in which burned areas appear gray and vegetated areas green. The

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of actively burning fire fronts are orange. By April 25, the fires had destroyed more than 120 homes—the most lost to wildfire in the state’s history, according to

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.

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The Pineland Road fire has darkened landscapes near Fruitland in this false-color image acquired by the

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(Operational Land Imager) on

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on April 23, 2026.  

NASA Earth Observatory/Michala Garrison

The Highway 82 blaze started on

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with a spark from a welding operation, and the Pineland Road fire ignited three days later after a mylar balloon collided with power lines. Both blazes spread rapidly amid blustery winds in areas that were parched by months of limited rainfall. Fallen trees and limbs left by

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in September 2024 also helped fuel the fires, according to forestry officials.

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helped firefighters battle the blazes in recent days, but the Pineland Road fire remained 23 percent contained and the Highway 82 fire 32 percent contained on April 28, the forestry commission reported. Hundreds of

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are confronting the fires with equipment in the air and on the ground.

NASA’s satellite and aircraft data are part of a global system of observations used to track fire behavior, analyze emerging trends, and develop technology that operational agencies can use to

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across the United States. Among the real-time wildfire monitoring tools that NASA makes available are

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(Fire Information for Resource Management System), the

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browser, and the

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.

NASA Earth Observatory images by Michala Garrison, using Landsat data from the 

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. Story by Adam Voiland.

Downloads

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Highway 82 fire: April 23, 2026

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Pineland Road fire: April 23, 2026

JPEG (5.80 MB)

References & Resources

• AP, via U.S. News & World Report (2026, April 23)
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  . Accessed April 28, 2026.
• CBS 47 & Fox 30, via Yahoo! News (2026, April 25)
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  . Accessed April 28, 2026.
• Georgia Forestry Commission (2026, April 28)
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  . Accessed April 28, 2026.
• Highway 82 Fire Information, via
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  (2026)
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  . Accessed April 28, 2026.
• NASA Earthdata (2026)
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  . Accessed April 28, 2026.
• NASA Earth Observatory (2026, April 7)
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  . Accessed April 28, 2026.
• NASA
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  . Accessed April 28, 2026.
• Savannah Morning News (2025, April 27)
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  . Accessed April 28, 2026.   
• U.S. Drought Monitor
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  . Accessed April 28, 2026.
• Wildfire Explorer (2026, April 28)
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  . Accessed April 28, 2026.

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