Three fires burn

Ashley Hunter
ECB Publishing, Inc.

A total of three fires kept the Jefferson County Fire Rescue (JCFR) busy last weekend, as firefighters scrambled to put out the flames of two brush fires and a house fire on Friday, Sept. 20 and Saturday, Sept. 21.
The first of the three fires was a brush fire that was spotted near 3500 Boston Highway, north of Monticello's city limits.
The first alarm for the fire started at 3:30 p.m., with crews from the JCFR arriving on the scene by 3:42 p.m. and staying on the scene until the blaze had been entirely controlled at 4:45 p.m.
According to the report issued by the JCFR, the agency sent Brush Truck 1 and Tanker Truck 1 out to Boston Highway after receiving reports of a brush fire that was currently burning. The JCFR also requested assistance from the Florida Forestry Service in locating the fire.
A large and growing brush fire was located on both sides of Boston Highway; the ever-increasing flames were being propelled by 15 mph wind gusts and had engulfed an area of thick brush, making it difficult for crews to reach the fire.
In order to combat the fire, the JCFR had to attack the flames from the west side, deploying a line 250 feet into the brush in order to reach the fire. The Florida Forestry Service also deployed four plow trucks, which were used to cut fire breaks around the blaze.
By the time the fire had finally been extinguished, the JCFR reports that they used 1,300 gallons of water.
Responding firefighters were Lt. Ryan Flint, Captain Jim Iten, Joey Tillman, Mike Register, Lance Blomeley, Lt. Matthew LaMendola and Chief Derrick Burrus.
The next morning, on Saturday, Sept. 21, the JCFR went out for another fire, this time a house fire, that had been reported on East Washington Highway.
The first alarm went out at 9:33 a.m., with crews arriving on scene by 9:36 a.m. and staying on scene until 11:03 a.m.
However, this time, there was very little for firefighters to do; when they had arrived at the scene of the reported fire, the home had burned entirely to the ground.
According to the report issued by the JCFR, the property belonged to Bridget Drawdy, and when crews arrived on the scene, only a pile of ash and rubble awaited them and the ash no longer smoked or showed signs of reigniting.
The report states that a plumbing contractor had been the last person at the house the night before at around 3 p.m. the prior evening.
The contractor informed the JCFR that when he left the residence, he noticed that the main electrical service line that was connected to the home was laying on the ground and there was burned vegetation around the wire, spreading almost to the home structure as well.
However, when he left, there was no sign of fire or smoke within the building.
The Florida Fire Marshal was contacted, but due to the fact that there was no sign of any arson, the Marshal did not respond to the scene. Chief Burrus determined that the fire had been caused by the reported electrical supply line. It is believed that the line reignited, creating an external fire that eventually spread to the home.
The power company that provided service to the property arrived on scene and secured the line to prevent further incidents.
Later that day, JCFR firefighters responded to the final fire of the weekend.
At 7:56 p.m., the JCFR would be informed by Jefferson County Dispatch of a brush fire that was taking place on Hartsfield Road, located east of Monticello.
The report issued by the JCFR states that a fire had ignited on a wooded lot, engulfing approximately 16 acres of brush and timber.
The land had been in the process of logging, and the fallen trees that were laying on the ground were burning.
Due to the extremity of the fire, the JCFR requested additional manpower to assist them in fighting back the flames.
As the 16 acres of burning timber were located off the road and fire units could not access the property, firefighters used hand tools in order to slow the fire down before the Florida Forestry Service could arrive on the scene to attack the fire.
After several hours of fighting the fire, JCFR firefighters were released from the scene by the forestry service at 11:30 p.m.
Responding firefighters were Chief Burrus, Captain Iten, Lt. LaMendola, Joe Woodson and Vernon Barker.