Some choose to evacuate as 3,500-acre brush fire burns in eastern Collier County
The area's largest brush fire in two years grew to 3,500 acres Monday, blocking off one major road and causing some residents to evacuate their homes in eastern Collier County.
At least a dozen residents evacuated the area where the fire burned near the Picayune Strand State Forest, south of Interstate 75, authorities said.
The fire, which started Sunday and was about 30 percent contained as of Monday night, sent an enormous plume of dark smoke across the sky and consumed one mobile home on 58th Avenue Southeast near Miller Boulevard.
Residents of the mostly rural area scrambled to evacuate horses and other animals from their ranches. By 4 p.m. Monday, heavy winds moved the fire southwest — toward residential developments — and caused authorities to close Collier Boulevard from Davis Boulevard south to Rattlesnake Hammock Road.
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Collier County Emergency Management sent preliminary evacuation notices to the area's residences as a precaution. The evacuations were voluntary.
But authorities also asked commuters to avoid the area and blocked off some of the roads leading to ranches and mobile home communities near Beck Boulevard.
Cindy Murlowski, owner of the Belle Meade Ranch, didn't know Monday if authorities would re-open the roads to allow her to evacuate her six horses.
Most other local owners evacuated their horses Sunday night, she said.
"We felt we were fine," Murlowski said. "We have a sprinkler system, and we don't have as much underbrush."
But overnight it became clear that the fire, unlike previous brush fires near Murlowski's property, couldn't be handled by a sprinkler.
Murlowski said her ranch manager was staying with the horses. She wasn't worried. She described the fire as an inconvenience.
Another local ranch owner, Chris Horky, said he evacuated his 62 horses Sunday, and authorities wouldn't let him back on his ranch Monday.
"Horses and fire do not mix," Horky said. "There was a window. We took it."
The cause of the fire was unknown, authorities said. The Florida Forest Service said dry and windy conditions caused 26 wildfires throughout the state Sunday that burned more than 2,500 acres.
The National Weather Service issued a warning Monday that conditions including strong winds, low relative humidity and warm temperatures in Collier County were right for "extreme fire behavior." Any fires that develop will likely spread rapidly.
In Florida, the NWS reported the highest threat in Collier, western Broward, western Palm Beach, western Miami-Dade, Glades, Hendry and northern mainland Monroe counties.
"The wind pushes it quickly," said Wayne Martin, deputy director for the Greater Naples Fire Rescue District, who was overseeing the local response to the fire Monday. "We call it a running fire."
More than 80 firefighters responded from agencies across Collier County, including the Immokalee and Marco Island fire departments.
Crews brought brush trucks, fire engines and tractors for the fire that at one point stretched a half-mile wide and 4 miles deep.
Firefighters worked to contain the fire or surround it with crews to prevent its spread.
"We'd recommend people avoid that area if at all possible," said Nolan Sapp, deputy chief for the Greater Naples Fire District. "There's going to be a lot of emergency personnel moving back and forth. We recommend people leave the area and stay away until it's time we allow you back."
In the event of mandatory evacuations, which weren't signaled Monday, the county made Collier Area Transit buses and the Golden Gate Community Center available for transport and shelter.
Collier county also started an emergency hotline for the fire:239-252-8444 or 311 (Collier County only).
