
Multiple fire units responded to a large brush fire on Friday located near Melrose off County Road 1469 that took several hours to contain.
According to an Alachua County Fire Rescue (ACFR) release, crews from ACFR, Melrose Fire Department, the Florida Department of Forestry and the Alachua County Sheriff’s Office responded to the fire at 2:14 p.m.
When units arrived, they found a fast-moving brush fire being spread by strong winds. Local residents were evacuated from their homes while firefighters established a containment line around the blaze.
“It took several hours to contain,” said ACFR battalion chief Stanley Young in a phone interview. “We helped put out hotspots…as well as some of the areas just inside [the containment line], we wet really good.”
Young said ACFR assisted in the residential evacuation and protecting structures from the fire, adding ACFR units were on scene until 7:13 p.m.
No homes were damaged, and no civilians were injured, Young said.
The Department of Forestry will reportedly be on scene to watch for any flare-ups that need to be extinguished.
The cause of the fire was determined to be equipment us, said Dr. Ludie Bond, a wildlife mitigation specialist with the Florida Forest Service.
“Sometimes when conditions are dry, especially after a hard freeze, grasses are suspectable to fire and it doesn’t take much to create a spark,” Bond said.
The majority of fires this time of the year are grass fires, she added, but they are easily contained because the fuel load is light.
“We had multiple resources that responded quickly, so we were able to contain [the brush fire],” Bond said, adding that one firefighter was injured during the blaze.
Bond directed residents concerned with potential wildfires to go online to the Florida Forest Service and click on Wildland Fire. The page contains resources on how to create defensible spaces around homes and property, how to receive assistance for hazardous fuel management and how to acquire an outdoor burn authorization.
Editor’s note: This story was updated with comments from the Florida Forest Service.