ORLANDO, Fla. -- Firefighters contained a stubborn brush fire in rural east Orange County on Friday, and they had to watch it overnight into to make sure it didn’t flare up again.
- Firefighters attacked roughly 3-acre blaze
- Orange fire crew monitored overnight
- Wildfires raging in Florida Panhandle
About 3 acres burned near Reindeer and Fort Christmas roads, said Mike Jachles, a spokesman for Orange County Fire Rescue.
The fire started Thursday and was contained. But strong winds Friday whipped up the blaze, lifting flames over plow lines.
The fire was in a mostly undeveloped area, so there were no structures at risk. No one was hurt.
The Florida Fire Service also responded to Friday’s flare-up.
But the agency didn’t have the type of heavy equipment needed to negotiate the remote, swampy terrain, Jachles said.
So an Orange County Fire Rescue unit had to babysit it and mop up any hot spots. The forecast for Saturday calls for a high of 86 and breezy conditions.
Orange and Seminole counties are at a high risk for fires now, according to the Florida Fire Service.
Surrounding counties are under a mostly moderate risk, except for Polk County, which is also at high risk.
The Keetch-Byram drought index, a measure of soil moisture, shows the mean value for Orange County was 477 on Friday. The driest value is 800. Seminole’s mean was 444 on Friday. Osceola’s value was 450. Brevard’s was 464. Volusia came in at 408.
These were the values for other counties on Friday:
- Lake: 363
- Flagler: 369
- Sumter: 337
- Marion: 305
The hardest-hit part of the state for wildfires right now is the Panhandle. Firefighters are battling a 2,000-acre blaze in Santa Rosa County and a nearly 600-acre wildfire in Walton County.
The Santa Rosa blaze, nicknamed the Five Mile Swamp Fire, began May 4. The fire exploded amid high winds and extremely low humidity.
Similar conditions powered up the Mussett Bayou Fire in Walton County.
At one point this week, 500 residents had to be evacuated in Walton.
Residents have since been allowed to return to their homes, according to the Florida Fire Service.
