Florida brush fire covers 300 acres

Florida brush fire covers 300 acres

GAINESVILLE — The first sizable Florida wild fire of the winter season has burned more than 300 acres just east of Gainesville.

Forestry officials say the fire, which was first spotted Friday evening near the border of Alachua and Putnam counties, was considered 100 percent contained but not completely out. Affecting

mostly grasslands, crews from the Division of Forestry and nearby fire departments have been working to keep the fire from spreading.

Sunday’s heavy rains helped keep the fire under control, but dry conditions over the next week could cause smoldering parts of the swampy area to flare up again warn officials.

No structures have been threatened or damaged by the fire.

In some areas of the state, the likelihood of a wildfire is very high and officials have issued warnings about outdoor burning. In fact, Alachua County issued a burn ban last Tuesday for at least a week.

Low amounts of rainfall in parts of the state and previous frosts and freezes have left brush extremely dry.

This past week a small trash fire in Columbia County got out of hand and burned about five acres before crews from the Division of Forestry and Fort White firefighters were able to contain it.