COMPLETE STORY: Henscratch Fire Flares Up Again

Photos from Leisure Lakes Brush Fire

LAKE PLACID - Tuesday morning, bright and early, Florida Division of Forestry crews were out with bulldozers, pushing down brush and small trees that could cause future blazes.

But before noon, the wind started moving, the fire flared up, and more homes were threatened.

About 65 forestry and Highlands County firefighters battled flames for eight hours on Monday afternoon after a wildfire burned 150 forested acres in the Henscratch Road area, between Sebring and Lake Placid. By Tuesday morning, using GPS coordinates, that estimate changed to 419 acres.

The fire started about 12:50 p.m. Two forestry crews stayed on the scene throughout the night, said Charles Andrews, one of three fire service supervisors for the county.

"It was windy, even at 8:30 p.m.," he said. "It was still blowing embers outside the containment area.
That's when he left the scene, and the fire was still only 50 percent contained, Andrews said.

The cause of the fire was being investigated on Tuesday. No structures burned, and no one was injured, he said.

Animals Evacuated

About noon Tuesday, Bert Dawson was watching as the gray smoke built up behind his house, at 2717 Grand Concourse.

"I saw the wind change, and I thought, that fire is coming right toward us," Dawson said, moving fast.
As a dozen firefighters pulled their trucks onto his property, Dawson bridled his horse, Crystal, and led her out of the corral. He had already called a neighbor on the west side of Henscratch Road, who brought a trailer.

"We have some defensible space here," said Melissa Yunas, a wildfire mitigation specialist with the forestry division, her hand gesturing around Dawson's mown yard. "Next door, we have zero defensive space."

That's Joyce Wilson's house, where Leisure Lakes Fire Department volunteer Robert Rode was having trouble backing his brush truck down her driveway. Yunas had to direct the truck past Wilson's small orange house to the back yard. Tree limbs were hitting the truck. Rode walked behind the house, unrolling hose, waiting for the fire to come to him.

About 15 minutes later, Wilson showed up in a mini-van.

"Should I get my dog out of here?" she asked Yunas. Yes, it would be a good idea.
Wilson caught Sunny Bear, a white German shepherd, put him on a leash and led him into the van, then was advised to gather her important papers, just in case.

She came back out with two cats in cages, and drove her van across Grand Concourse Road, then came walking back.

Highlands Red Cross volunteers responded with food and water for fire crews. The Red Cross also manned a shelter at Highlands County Agri-Civic Center, but no evacuees needed shelter. By 10 p.m., the shelter was closed.

"There were 25 homes that we think were directly affected (on Monday) that had a high potential of burning," said Andrews.

By 3 p.m. Tuesday, Yunas said the fire was still only 75 percent contained, but no houses were threatened.