Homeowners in Chuluota get OK to return home after evacuations due to fire

SEMINOLE COUNTY, Fla. – Residents in Seminole County were given the all clear to return to their homes Sunday after a brush fire forced them to evacuate.

Approximately 165 acres were burned by the fire, which broke out off County Road 419 in Seminole County near the Live Oak subdivision.

A representative for the Seminole County Fire Department said a Girl Scouts camp in the area also had to be evacuated. A spokesperson for the camp said it was a volunteer weekend, meaning volunteers were being trained and no Girl Scouts were on the property.

There were some homes in the area that had a voluntary evacuation and some homes that had a mandatory evacuation. The Seminole County Fire Department said a total of 44 homes were evacuated.

Fire officials said the mandatory evacuation was for Woodhurst Court in the Live Oak Reserve subdivision.

The Chuluota VFW Post was established as an evacuation shelter, fire officials said.

More than 10 buildings were destroyed, officials said.

A helicopter with the Seminole County Sheriff's Office dropped buckets of water, Oviedo Fire Rescue personnel said.

The fire was 80 percent contained as of 10 a.m. on Sunday, according to the Florida Forest Service. Crews were still on scene to monitor the 165-acre fire. Fire officials said they planned to do a mop up of the fire Sunday. 

The Florida Forest Service said no structures were in danger, but did not provide information on where the evacuation order stood at that time.

Florida Forest Service officials said the fire was about 90 percent contained around noon.

The cause of the fire remains unknown.

Personnel from Oviedo Fire Rescue, the Seminole County Fire Department, Florida Fire Service, the Florida Highway Patrol, the Kissimmee Fire Department, the Oviedo Police Department and Seminole County Sheriff's Office arrived at the scene, officials said.

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