CHARLOTTE COUNTY – In what could be described as one of the most intense droughts parts of the Suncoast has seen, a nearly 60-acre brush-fire almost wipes out an entire neighborhood.
Wildfire Mitigation Specialist for the Florida Forest Service Patrick Mahoney says it took several agencies working quickly to get control of the blaze before any lives were lost.
“We ended up with I believe five units up here, because of the high winds today, high humidity it just picked it up and pushed it,” said Mahoney.
Mahoney says crews were able to evacuate residents in time as the fire spread quickly to surrounding homes. He says with 40% of the fire contained, their next challenge was to tackle the small fires underground carried by the excess of Australian Pine Needles in the area.
He says the weather added the extra ingredients to cause the fire to leap around the neighborhood. “The winds were blowing 15-20 [mph] plus and with that air it just it jumped over the roads up here, jumped over the ditch, jumped,” said Mahoney.
Charlotte County resident Jeffery Parker’s house sits on the corner of Hiram St. & Meadowlark Ln. His house was just mere feet from the fire and says he and his family only had time to the grab necessities and noted the fires are becoming more frequent.
“This isn’t the first occurrence.” said Parker. “A couple months back it caught fire, and a couple months back before that and then we moved two years ago. So it’s been around seven or eight times I’ve seen it on fire personally.”
Mahoney says just last week they battled a similar fire in the area. He’s asking residents to use caution when using items that’ll cause sparks or produces heat as their work is far from over.
“We’re going to be out here late, late tonight and just dumping water on it because there is just no way we’re going to be able to get this out,” he said.
Mahoney says there were no injuries, and only a shed was destroyed. He says more brush fires could ignite with the continuing drought.
The cause of the fire is still under investigation.
