PASCO COUNTY, Fla. — Maddie Horn watched in fear from her balcony as crews worked to control a brush fire getting dangerously close to her townhome community.
“It never touched our house, but it went up, and we could feel it from our window,” she said.
The brush fire started Wednesday night but flared up throughout Thursday morning.
Crews used controlled burns to clear brush near townhouses.
But we saw hot spots pop up, sending a member of The Division of Forestry into action again, into the woods, hose in hand.
“I was concerned actually from the beginning. There’s only one entrance in this area. And one entrance out,” said Honor Mungovan.
Even though those flames got close, officials did not evacuate anyone on either side of the woods.
Some chose to leave on their own as smoke continued to fill the air and some homes.
“It smells like a bonfire inside my house. It smells like I’m sitting at a bonfire, so that’s a little unsettling, and my kid has asthma, so we are just going to go ahead and leave and let it settle and then come back, and a lot of people are doing that,” said Christian Sullivan.
Port Richey Fire Chief Gary Policastri said crews would clear out as much brush as possible with controlled burns so there would be nothing left close to the residential neighborhoods to catch fire.
Officials have not yet said what caused the fire.
The fire was burning off US-19 at Ridge Road near Miller's Bayou, close to the Avila Bay Townhome Community. Officials said the fire started Wednesday around 7:24 p.m., and that rough terrain and several hot spots made it difficult to contain at first.
Port Richey Fire Department responded with five brush trucks, four engines, 30 firefighters and more.
A state report says hundreds of frail elderly nursing home residents were stacked side by side, head to toe in a small church with no working air conditioning or refrigerator during Hurricane Helene.
