Be safe if you’re in the following areas. If you have any photos you’d like to share, you can post them in the comments below, or send them to lehighacresgazette@gmail.com from Florida Forest Service as of 6:15 p.m.
Three wildfires are burning in Collier County as crews push to smother the flames before the first rainstorms of the season. These fires come one week after a large fire destroyed two homes in Golden Gate Estates.
A 60-acre wildfire in Picayune Strand State Forest is burning near 80th Avenue SE. The blaze is 60 percent contained as seven fire crews work the fire, according to the Florida Forest Service Caloosahatchee Center. A separate fire of 10-15 acres burns near 112th Avenue SE and is 60 percent contained with six dozers working the blaze.
A third wildfire of 25 acres is burning in east Collier County and is 80 percent contained with two bulldozer crews and an air unit are on-site. The fire flared up near Sanders Boulevard and the Sabal Palm Hiking Trail. All three wildfires began Sunday afternoon.
No structures are threatened by the fires, and they are not too dangerous to the crews, said Melinda Avni, a mitigation specialist for the Florida Forest Service.
“We’re just taking no chances given the terrain and weather,” Avni said via text message.