County Opens Shelter For Fire Evacuees

SEBRING - The Highlands County Agri-Civic Center was opened as an emergency shelter at about 6:30 p.m. Monday to shelter people who had to evacuate the Henscratch Road area due to a wildfire.

Gloria Rybinsky, county public information officer, said she did not have a count of how many families came to the shelter.

"We do not know how many people will use this shelter," Rybinski said. "It was not a mandatory evacuation. It was a voluntary evacuation and we opened the Agri-Civic Center for people who might need this option."

The fire was still burning on about 75 acres at 7:10 p.m. Monday. It was 50 percent contained at that time, Rybinski said.

About 150 acres off Henscratch Road were involved in the fire. At 2:45 p.m., county officials reported that about 100 acres were involved in the fire, and between 80 to 90 families had been asked to voluntarily evacuate their homes.

The fire started at about 1 p.m. and was fought by firefighters from four local fire departments during daylight hours, but at nighttime the state Division of Forestry took over firefighting operations.

No injuries were reported. No houses or structures were known to have been burned, Rybinski said.

The Division of Forestry had not only firefighting personnel but also a public information officer at the scene. the public information officer, though, could not be reached by cell phone.

The cause of the wildfire had not been determined as of 7:10 p.m. Monday, Rybinski said.