NASSAU COUNTY, Fla. – Nassau County Fire Rescue is asking drivers to avoid US Highway 1 north of Hilliard due to a 50-acre wildfire on Saturday afternoon.
If you have to drive through the area of North Kings Road and Murrhee Road, use caution and avoid the fire crews working. Drivers are reminded to use their low-beam headlights and reduce their speed.
The Callie Kay’s deli is closed for the day, but the general store is still open. They said they had some smoke coming in and had to close some doors, but otherwise they were open for business.
An employee said he was getting calls from people worried about his safety.
“I was a little nervous for sure. I didn’t know how close it was or how it started or how big it was, but they told us it jumped the tracks and the tracks are about 500 yards and then I was walking around and heard someone say it was about 300 feet behind the store. So I guess it got pretty close,” Blake Werts said.
Mike Work with the Florida Forest Service said the wildfire started due to a mechanical issue with a UTV recreational vehicle.
“And with these dry fuels, 25 days without rain in this part of the landscape here, it didn’t take much to get the dry fuels going,” Work said.
He said the wind blew the smoke west and towards the railroad tracks, affecting the businesses along U.S. 1 and the traffic.
NCFR said on its Facebook page that the fire is contained and Work said that they will continue to monitor the area.
“We have fire lines all the way around...There’s a few weak areas, up on the northeast and southeast corner along the railroad tracks that we’re dealing with and we got the local fire departments from Nassau County and the towns actually engage with us, helping us, secure those two weaker areas,” Work said.
He said the dry conditions are a significant factor in the fire spreading, and no one had to evacuate from their homes or businesses.