SR 417 near Hunters Creek reopened - FOX 35 News Orlando

Residents in Hunters Creek along Altavista Dr. are back inside their homes enjoying the holiday weekend, hours after a 50 acres brush fire threatening their homes, forcing about 30 families to evacuate.

"It just caught fire real quick and everything went up, mostly cause the wind just pushed it out here real quick to help calm it down,"said Neighbor Kelly Kipp.

It was anything but a typical Thanksgiving for Paul Moriarty and his family.  "I definitely thought I was losing my house today," Moriarty said.

Their family was one of many families forced to evacuate as the brush fire inched closer and closer to their backyard.

"I said you don't have time to do your hair, you don't have time for anything, grab the baby, grab the kids let's get in the car, let's get out of here," Moriarty said.

He said the flames came so quickly he grabbed his own hose along with his son, and together they did what he had to do to protect their home.

"I immediately got up on my roof, got my hose, my older son handed me the hose because the embers were coming that quickly," Moriarty said.

Orange County Fire Rescue said they got the call around 1:00 p.m. Thursday, they say 25 to 30 mile per hour winds pushed the flames South.

"This fire was being pushed by a pretty strong breeze so it moved pretty quick from even that first 911 call; we worked really hard to make sure that we go hose lines and nozzles in place behind the homes so the homes were protected ,that was our first and foremost priority," said John Mulhall of Orange County Fire Rescue.

In addition to the hoses, firefighters said they created a barrier around the fire area to keep it from spreading.

"They're going to plow a fire break around which means the ground is just cut down to the bare soil the fire doesn't have any fuel to advance," Mulhall said.

As for the Lampano family part of their Thanksgiving feast was spent on the front side walk.
"We're just starting, there's food here, we're trying to get everyone else to eat too," said Edgar Lampano who's family was also evacuated.

After about two hours residents were allowed back in their homes, giving a little extra thanks this year that their houses and families are all safe and sound.

"Now that you know everybody safe you can go back to enjoying everything and make sure everybody's okay," Kipp said.

Firefighters say a resident admitted that he started the fire accidentally while disposing of embers from a bonfire.