Officials: Campfire Sparked 100-Acre Florida Brush Fire
Source The Palm Beach Post, Fla.
HOBE SOUND, Fla. -- A campfire started Thursday's brush fire that threatened 24 homes and consumed 105 acres by Friday evening, fire officials said.
The brush fire started around noon Thursday in a densely wooded area off Southeast Pinehaven Avenue, behind the Poinsettia Gardens community west of U.S. 1 and east of Seawind Elementary School, and grew to 60 acres.
Crews from Martin County Fire Rescue and the Florida Forest Service had the fire contained at 100 acres today -- until the wind changed direction. It shifted to south-to-north from east-to-west around 5:30 p.m., said Melissa Yunas, a Forest Service wildfire mitigation specialist.
The shift pushed the fire across a containment line, where it burned another 5 acres. Firefighters used bulldozers to contain it, Yunas said.
The fire no longer is threatening the homes, since it spread into mainly undeveloped land. Most of what was burning was vegetation ruined by hurricanes and some melaleuca shrubs.
Investigators are looking into who started the campfire, which was in the dense woods across a ditch behind the homes.
"It could have been a homeless person," Yunas said. "It could have been kids."
Thursday smoky conditions were reported across the Treasure Coast.
Two firefighters were treated at a local hospital for heat exhaustion.
Copyright 2012 - The Palm Beach Post, Fla.
McClatchy-Tribune News Service
