CALHOUN COUNTY, Fla. (WMBB) —The wildfire in Calhoun County almost doubled in size Wednesday morning.
Florida Forest Service officials said it began Monday as an unauthorized pile burn that got out of control.
The stubborn wildfire is located west of Clarksville on some soft, mucky ground along Highway 20.
At its peak Wednesday it covered 175 acres and was about 40% contained.
“We have 32 personnel working the fire right now. We have seven dozers that are out there actively working the fire,” Mitigation Specialist Aleese Maples said.
Even with all the equipment they need, smothering this fire is proving much more difficult.
“The ground composition is extremely unstable. We are running into issues with some of our equipment getting stuck. We’re actively working on running cables, pulling that equipment out,” said Maples.
Prior to Wednesday afternoon rains, firefighters had to battle low humidity and windy conditions that helped spread the flames.
“We’ve experienced all different types of fires, this fire is just really unique due to the ground composition of just being very wet and unstable. We are running into issues of our equipment getting stuck out there,” said Maples.
Authorities say they’ve been lucky so far.
No one has been hurt and aside from trees, no one has lost any property.
“So, we’re still working the fire. We’re holding it at 175 acres right now. So we’ll be out here until we can get it 100% contained,” said Maples.
Smoke forced authorities to close Highway 20 Monday, that’s no longer an issue.
Late Wednesday afternoon forestry officials said the afternoon rain did not help much in containing the fire.
