Fire evacuations ordered

Mandatory evacuations are underway south of Waycross as winds push the western side of Georgia Bay Fire toward homes in the Suwannee Chapel Road-Swamp Road area.
The heavy fire activity from what was formerly the Sweat Farm Roa d Fire started Wednesday afternoon, when the fire jumped containment lines and burned 2,600 acres. The fire was thought to have advanced as fast as 100 feet per minute Wednesday and started running again this afternoon.
Ware County sheriff's deputies are going door-to-door warning residents to leave as heavy smoke blows into the area.
On the western side of the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge, the fire jumped the Suwannee Sill, a long, low dam built decades ago to retain water in the swamp. The area behind the dam usually has water and officials said fires had never before crossed the sill.
Embers from the main fire is said to have spotted over containment lines and started small fires as much as three quarters of a mile away.