Firefighters are keeping a close eye on hot spots after a harrowing brush fire in east Orange County Wednesday evening.
There's a lot of interest in the fire because it may have been intentionally set, WESH 2 News reported.
There was still a lot of smoke in the air at Deerwood Mobile Home Park on Pell Street Thursday morning. The Orange County Fire Chief said officials have every reason to believe the fire was arson.
The fire forced the evacuation of about a dozen homes. Fortunately, retention ponds around the homes kept the fire at a safe distance.
Firefighters said they're calling the blaze suspicious. The chief said conditions are especially dangerous now.
"The wind gets up. The humidity is low. It takes a small fire and it grows very quickly, and there is a lot of houses in this community. We had to evacuate several of them because of the dangers of the smoke and the fire," Chief Carl Plagher said.
There was no lightning in the area Wednesday night. That is a major reason why the blaze is considered suspicious.
The fire department also confirmed that at least one other fire has burned in the same area in the past week. Crews remained at the scene all night to make sure the fire didn't rekindle.
Investigators will take a walk through the area Thursday morning to determine where the fire started and the cause.
To comment on this story, send an e-mail to Joe Oliver .
Copyright 2006 by WESH.COM. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
