Firefighters responded Feb. 25 to two separate active wildfires on the Treasure Coast — including one fire threatening homes.
The first brush fire was reported about 1:15 p.m. near Southwest Fox Brown Road in western Martin County, said Florida Forest Service wildfire mitigation specialist David Grubich.
Firefighters arrived at the scene by 2 p.m. and found the fire was about 10 acres in size, Grubich said, but no structures were threatened.
It grew to 30-35 acres but was mostly contained by 4:30 p.m., said Martin County Fire Rescue officials. Residents were told to expect heavy smoke in the area.
The second brush fire was reported about 1:30 p.m. in the 1700 block of Savannah Street in the Savannas Preserve State Park next to Indian River Estates near Fort Pierce, Grubich said.
Firefighters arrived at the scene and found what appeared to be about 2 acres on fire, Grubich said, and structures in the residential neighborhood were threatened.
The fire near Indian River Estates grew to about 20 acres by 3:30 p.m., said Division Chief Daniel Mikels, and firefighters had it about 30% contained.
It got close to some homes and properties, Mikels said, but firefighters were able to stop it effectively. No homes had to be evacuated as of 3:30 p.m.
The fire was 50% contained at 5:15 p.m., Grubich said. It still was 50% contained as of 7 p.m. as crews from the Florida Forest Service, the county’s Environmental Resources Department and the state’s Department of Environmental Protection remained on scene.
Burn bans remain in effect across the Treasure Coast in response to extremely dry conditions and lack of rainfall.
No rain chances were in the forecast until the end of the week, according to the National Weather Service in Melbourne.
The Florida Forest Service uses the Keetch-Byram drought index to estimate the dryness of the soil and duff layers. The index increases each day without rain and decreases when it rains. The scale ranges from 0 to 800, with 800 being the driest.
As of Feb. 25, the drought index in Martin and St. Lucie counties was high at 650 while Indian River County wasn’t far behind at 600.
Laurie K. Blandford is a breaking news reporter with TCPalm. Email her at laurie.blandford@tcpalm.com.
This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: Two active Florida wildfires burning, including one threatening homes
Reporting by Laurie K. Blandford, Treasure Coast Newspapers / Treasure Coast Newspapers
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