HOLIDAY, Fla. — Pasco County Fire Rescue has responded to a large brush fire near Anclote High School in Holiday.
What You Need To Know
- A brush fire broke out Friday at about 12:30 p.m. near the Key Vista neighborhood
- The fire is currently covering about 20 acres
- At one point, 10 homes had to be evacuated due to the fire
The fire, covering about 20 acres, is near homes on Banner Stone Court and Blue River Drive. The department has sent several engines and brush trucks to the scene to protect those homes.
The brushfire broke out around 12:30 Friday afternoon, threatening homes in the Key Vista neighborhood. Some residents there say the flames came within yards of their home.
“It was 25-30 foot flames,” said David Demith. “I got the garden hose and started to spray down.”
Ten homes were briefly evacuated in the neighborhood. Firefighters say when the winds picked up they had to move fast.
“We saw where the fire was coming,” said Pasco County Fire and Rescue spokesman Corey Deirdorff. “We deployed engines out in the Key Vista neighborhood to make sure these peoples homes were protected.”
Firefighters were able to keep the blaze away from homes, but smoke blanketed the neighborhood. Investigators were still trying to figure out what sparked the brushfire late Friday, but it’s the second one in the area in about a week so firefighters are keeping their eyes on it.
“We’ll have crews out here throughout the night to monitor this,” Deirdorff said. “We’ll be coming through on shifts and Florida Forrest Service will be out here as well.”
In the meantime, firefighters are asking residents to not throw cigarette butts out of their car windows or let chains from their trailers drag on the road during this dry spell to avoid sparking anymore fires.
Florida Forest Service, Pinellas County, and Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office Aviation have responded to assist.
The fire didn’t affect the dismissal of the school, though steps were taken to make sure children did not get to close to the area.
