Two Decatur County men are recovering after they received serious burns in a mishap on the evening of Tuesday, Jan. 11.

Brothers Elwood Ward and Kenneth Ward, who live in the Fowlstown area, were injured Tuesday as they were trying to start a fire in an outdoor chimney, according to the Sheriff’s Office.

Elwood Ward, who was initially taken to a Tallahassee, Fla., hospital by emergency medical helicopter, later received treatment at a burn center hospital in Augusta, Ga., according to deputies and friends of the Ward family. Kenneth Ward was initially taken to a hospital by ambulance but was also later treated at the burn center in Augusta.

Elwood Ward, who suffered a burn to his face, was returning home to Decatur County on Friday after recovering from surgery, according to a Web site the Ward family has set up to update friends on the brothers’ condition. Kenneth Ward, who has burns to his legs, is still being cared for at Doctor’s Hospital in Augusta, Ga.

The Web site is http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/curtiselwoodward.

Reward offered in whooping cranes case

Federal authorities are offering a reward for information in the case of three endangered whooping cranes found shot to death in Calhoun County, Ga., on Dec. 30.

The bodies of the cranes were found and reported by hunters on Dec. 30, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The cranes were sent to the service’s forensics lab in Oregon, where scientists determined they had been shot, although it is not known when they were shot.

The deceased cranes were being tracked electronically on their first winter migration. They were part of the Whooping Crane Eastern Partnership, one of several groups working to reintroduce whooping cranes in the wild.

A $12,500 reward is being offered. Anyone wishing to offer information can call the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s law enforcement office at (404) 763-7959.