PORT ORANGE, Fla. (WOFL FOX 35 ORLANDO) -
Firefighters are still battling flare ups with a brush fire in Port Orange that is very close to homes in the Forest Lakes Preserve subdivision. Residents tell us dry brush and strong winds pushed the flames very quickly toward their homes Tuesday afternoon.
Three brush trucks will be on patrol all night to monitor the fire that grew to five acres but threatened fourteen houses.
Jonathan Christen called 911 as he watched the flames destroy dry brush and climb into the trees behind his house. "They were about to the tops of the trees, forty or fifty feet up, and they into those tall pines," he said gesturing toward the fire.
Will Raulerson, with the Florida Forest Service, recommends creating a buffer zone or about 30 feet of defensible space around a house. He suggests trimming back dry bushes, tall grass or ground cover, and clearing out dry moss and pine needles in gutters and on pool enclosures.
"I'd be very concerned. With my profession, and what I do for a living, I'd be very concerned about that kind of brush in my back yard," he said.
"If you've got those valleys in your roof that are filled with those pine needles or a bunch of brush, next thing you know, an ember falls from the trees and you can get a little fire going on your roof."
