Officials: Fast-moving brush fire threatens Florida homes

Published March 24, 2017

Florida Forest Service officials say a 400-acre brush fire has forced the evacuation of a neighborhood and threatened or burned up to 15 homes.

Nassau County Emergency Management Director Billy Estop ordered residents of the neighborhood near the Georgia line in northeast Florida to evacuate Wednesday. The fire started when a man started burning books in his yard around 2 p.m. Wednesday. The fire quickly got out of control and spread.

Estop tells television station News 4 Jax (http://bit.ly/2nKx0AI ) that gusty winds fueled the fire, which officials thought they'd contained to about 5 acres. The fire spread to an area Estep described as about a 1/2-mile wide by 2 miles long (3.22 kilometers).

Residents were told to leave their homes immediately.

Officials say the fire was about 50 percent contained.

URL

https://www.foxnews.com/us/officials-fast-moving-brush-fire-threatens-florida-homes