EGMONT KEY, Fla. (WFLA) — Egmont Key State Park remains closed Wednesday due to a wildfire that has burned 80 to 100 acres on the island. The park sits just south of Fort De Soto Park.
United States Fish and Wildlife Service said a lightning strike ignited the wildfire early Tuesday morning. The fire was discovered by a state park employee.
Fire crews responded to the island Tuesday around 8 a.m. Firefighters worked through the night to put the fire out.
As of Wednesday morning, 50 percent of the fire was contained. Officials said they’re working on the logistics, getting firefighters back and forth to the island since there is no vehicular access. The only way on and off the island is by boat. Additional crews from USFWS headed to the island Wednesday morning to help fight the fire. Firefighters don’t have the ability to take heavy equipment. They’ll be fighting it mostly by hand, using ATV’s and small watering equipment.
“What we’ll be doing with this fire is basically looking for natural barriers or roads to contain the fire using burn out operations to put black between the barrier that we identify and contain the fire itself,” said Greg Titus, district fire officer with USFWS.
Titus said they expect to see a few more acres burn out before the fire is completely out, but that’s only with good conditions. “If we get a real strong breeze, the fire kicks up and goes outside the fire control line then the fire could obviously start growing again,” said Titus.
Titus said right now, they have 14 people on hand from United States Fish and Wildlife Service, Florida Park Service and Forestry to help fight the fire.Read More: Lightning ignited wildfire on Egmont Key
Egmont Key is a Florida State Park and wildlife refuge that is accessible only by boat.
