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The wildfire has
charred about 4,800 acres (1,942 hectares) in Collier County and
forced residents to evacuate their houses in the Golden Gate
Estates area of Naples, Clark Ryals, a senior forester for the
Florida Forest Service, said by telephone. The blaze was only 10
percent contained.
Nine homes were destroyed by the fire, Ryals said at a news
conference later on Friday evening. One person suffered minor
injuries in the fire.
"These wildfires are dangerous and if you're within the
evacuation area, do not stay in your home," Florida Governor
Rick Scott said in a statement after meeting with fire officials
in the area.
Some people have resisted calls to leave their homes, Chief
Kingman Schuldt of the Greater Naples Fire Rescue District said.
"Unfortunately we still have a lot of people in their homes in
the evacuation areas and I would stress they do need to
evacuate," Schuldt told members of the media on Friday evening.
The fire, which erupted on Thursday, is consuming palmetto trees
and grasses.
A smaller wildfire also broke out in Collier County on Thursday
and spread across 350 acres (142 hectares). It has since been
completely contained.
About 200 firefighters are working to stop the growth of the two
blazes, which are about a mile apart. The governor, aside from
deploying Florida National Guard troops, said he also authorized
the use of five UH-60 Blackhawk helicopters to aid the effort.
The latest blazes follow a spate of other wildfires that have
burned this month in drought-parched Florida, which prompted
Scott to declare a state of emergency on April 11.
(Reporting by Alex Dobuzinskis in Los Angeles, additional
reporting by Timothy McLaughlin in Chicago; Editing by Cynthia
Osterman and Jacqueline Wong)
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