Fire near St. Simons Island extinguished after nearby factory goes up in flames

ST. SIMONS, Ga. — Fire crews from across Georgia and Florida rushed to contain this massive fire that shut down Brunswick – and parts of Saint Simons Island.

“We have on scene now, ourselves, Savannah, Jacksonville and Wayne County just to name a few,” Assistant Fire Chief Laurence Cargile said.

The Pinova Plant in nearby Brunswick, Ga. caught fire Saturday and strong winds reportedly pushed the smoke over the island, leading to Glynn County officials to issue a shelter-in-place order for parts of the island within a one-mile radius of the fire.

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The blaze has kept people on lockdown since this afternoon. It nearly went out, but reignited because of strong winds and fire crews said they couldn’t keep it out.

“We could not see – foresee where the wind would be moving,” Mayor Cosby H. Johnson said.

Several hours later, Glynn County says they finally extinguished the fire, but they won’t leave the scene yet.

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“We’re going to continue those operations until the scene is completely controlled,” Cargile said.

Until 10 p.m., all of Brunswick was under a “shelter in place order” and people within half a mile of the plant were told to evacuate and set up camp at a shelter.

Now, we’re told they can return to their homes, as firefighters will work into the night, hoping it doesn’t reignite once again.

Fire officials have not confirmed how the fire started.

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