Wildfire in Polk County, Florida destroys 12 homes

The fire has burned approximately 5,000 acres.

At least 12 homes have been destroyed in a wildfire in central Florida between Tampa and Vero Beach. Since it started near Indian Lake Estates the morning of February 15 it has burned about 5,000 acres and required the evacuation of the community for approximately 12 hours on Wednesday.

For a while on Thursday firefighters had the spread almost stopped, but strong winds caused the fire activity to pick up again near the River Ranch Hunt Club which had to be evacuated. On Friday Polk County Fire Rescue reported that approximately 100 campsite structures were destroyed at the club, where the fire is still active as of Friday afternoon.

map Polk County Florida Fire
Map showing the perimeter of the CR 630 E Fire, February 17, 2017.

At times early Friday morning State Road 60 had to be closed between CR 630 and Yeehaw Junction due to visibility being compromised by smoke.

All of these photos and the map were provided by Polk County Fire Rescue.

Polk County Florida Fire

Polk County Florida Fire

Polk County Florida Fire

map Polk County Florida Fire
Map showing the perimeter of the CR 630 E Fire, February 17, 2017.

 

fire tower Polk County Florida burning
Kevin Watler, an official with Polk County, confirmed that this Florida Forest Service fire tower burned on Wednesday. The original source of the photo is unknown.