As crews battle blaze, two Florida communities evacuated
Two Polk County communities near Frostproof were evacuated Wednesday as crews work to extinguish a spreading brush fire, according to a Bay News 9 report.
Residents of Indian Lake Estates and River Ranch have been ordered to evacuate due to the fire in the area of 7200 Highway 630 East. Polk County Fire and Rescue have also asked the public to avoid the area of Indian Lake Estates.
Everyone is asked to avoid the Indian Lake Estates area as we are working to contain a wide spread brush fire.
— Polk Fire Rescue (@PolkFire) February 15, 2017
A status posted to the Polk County Fire Rescue Facebook page Wednesday said, “the fire has grown and spreads across several hundreds of acres,” and noted that one home was damaged.
The Indian Lake Estates community consists of 800 homes and 8,000 lots, according to Bay News 9. The Polk County Sheriff's Office is also on the scene.
Six bulldozers from Florida Forest Service were on the scene, and three are more on the way, Bay News 9 reports. A Polk County Fire Rescue Facebook posts states there are also two helicopters at the scene, with one on the way and another on standby.
The brush fire is just one of many Bay News 9 reported burning in Central Florida Wednesday. Brush fires were also reported in Brevard, Flagler, Orange and Seminole counties.
Sara Nealeigh: 941-745-7081, @saranealeigh
This story was originally published February 15, 2017 at 5:18 PM with the headline "As crews battle blaze, two Florida communities evacuated."