OSCEOLA COUNTY, Fla. – Fire crews from multiple agencies responded to a brush fire in Osceola County on Sunday afternoon, according to officials.
Osceola County fire officials said they responded near Avenue A in Intercession City, prompting warnings as heavy smoke drifted across South Poinciana Boulevard. The wind carried a brush fire to Nursery Supplies, Inc. where its outdoor inventory caught fire.
“I came out of the house and all I saw was a black cloud of smoke,” Jeffery Smith, who lives nearby, said. “People were calling me and saying they were evacuating.”
[VIDEO: Osceola County crews battle brush fire near Avenue A in Intercession City]
Smoke conditions and high wildfire risk led authorities to urge drivers to avoid the immediate area. As a precaution, crews evacuated a Restaurant Depot facility and a nearby truck parking lot.
“Our firefighting posture is modified based on some of the safety concerns presented by propane tanks we have on the scene,” Osceola County Fire & Rescue EMS Public Information Officer Joshua Holder said.
“When you have what the weather service would call these red flag conditions, the combination of dry conditions and high winds, you do see a lot of unpredictable and fast movement with these wildfires, the embers from one fire can pick up and move.”
Officials used brush tankers, aerial units and engine companies to suppress the fire. The response included Polk County Fire Rescue, the Kissimmee Fire Department, the district fire department, and units from Orlando and Lake County. No one was injured.
Three years ago, another massive fire scorched acres of plastic pots at the business. At that time, an Osceola fire official said at least 2 acres of pallets holding thousands of plastic pots, some stacked 10 feet high, were ablaze.