CLAY COUNTY, Fla. – Firefighters battled a blaze burning Thursday afternoon across from homes in the area of Lisa Lynn Road, east of State Road 21, outside of Keystone Heights.
Florida Forest Service public information officer Annaleasa Winter said at 7:15 p.m. that the fire had grown to about 30 acres, up from an estimated 5 acres that the FFS reported about 1½ hours earlier.
The Forest Service said it had four bulldozers and a fixed-wing aircraft working the Trawick Fire. Sky 4 aerials showed multiple fire units pouring water on flames.
Just after 8 p.m., the FFS said the fire was 100% contained at 28 acres. Crews said they were able to stop the fire from entering Belmore State Forest, which is about 10,000 acres of land.
No structures were damaged, but the Forest Service said about dozen homes were initially in the line of fire before crews began to get the flames under control. That had nearby homeowner Abby Cosby on edge because she had been watching news reports about last week’s Yellow Bluff wildfire near the Duval-Nassau County line that forced Interstate 95 to close for 19 hours.
“The first thing I thought was how long it took for that to get taken care of and we’re all surrounded in woods here and it’s so dry," she said.
She described what the Trawick Fire looked like Thursday from her front porch.
“There were flames shooting up in the woods and smoke billowing all over," Cosby said. "I was worried about my house because I was not sure where it was going and we’re all surrounded by woods.”
Homeowner Joe Cosby added: “The highest flames were shooting through the treetops probably 30-40 feet."
Winter said the cause of the fire is not yet known. Officials said they are not ruling out a lightning strike from earlier this week that may have caused brush to start smoldering.