BAKER COUNTY, Fla. — Some people living in Baker County were put under a short-term mandatory evacuation after a wildfire started right off I-10 on Wednesday afternoon.
Baker County Fire Rescue told Action News Jax the fire started at around 1:15 PM, near Glen St. Mary. Fire Chief Trevor Nelson said he believes the fire was caused by sparks from the metal rim of a tire that had flown off a semi-truck only moments earlier.
“Within 20 minutes, the fire was spreading really fast,” Chief Nelson said, “we had between an 18 and 20 mile an hour wind when this fire started.”
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Chief Nelson said the wildfire started with only five acres of burned woods, then spread north to 125 acres of more wooded area, not damaging any buildings or homes. But multiple agencies still got involved to contain the fire, including the Florida Forest Service, Jacksonville Fire Rescue Department and Macclenny Fire Department.
Between fire trucks, fire engines and water-dropping helicopters, Baker County Fire Rescue said it took around four hours before the fire was mostly contained.
The areas of Noah Davis Road and Butcher Road, near Glen St. Mary, were evacuated right before 4:00 PM while firefighters worked to keep the flames away from homes.
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Tim Fisher was told early in the afternoon to evacuate his home. He said in the 21 years he has lived in Baker County, he has only seen two other fires near his neighborhood, but believes today’s wildfire was the worst so far.
“It seemed like it was spreading pretty far, and I knew it was somewhat kind of bad when they started dropping water out of the helicopter,” Fisher said.
Chief Nelson believes the wildfire spread so quickly because of the recent lack of rain. The First Alert Weather team is reporting that dry conditions across northeast Florida have greatly contributed to the more than 50 fires Action News Jax has tracked in the region within the last week.
The Florida Forestry Service has told Action News Jax the official cause of the wildfire is being investigated.
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