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Pasco Fires Out But Crews Stand Ready For More

Tribune photo by ANDY JONES

A brush fire approaches homes on Beacon Square Drive Wednesday.

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By LISA A. DAVIS | The Tampa Tribune

Published: February 19, 2009

Pasco County's brush truck engines are finally starting to cool. At least for a little while.

No active brush fires required manning, according to Pasco fire dispatch. Quite the contrast to the hours before.

Wildfires Wednesday afternoon kept Pasco County and state Division of Forestry firefighters on their toes as flames swept through wooded areas close to Beacon Square, a packed community west of U.S. 19 near Moog Road.

Trucks arrived in the area about 2:30 p.m. and kept coming in the hours that followed. About 25 families evacuated the area as flames shot through treetops and lapped homes, damaging a few and threatening many others.

No injuries have been reported.

Thick smoke blanketed the area, and afternoon and early evening traffic was snagged on U.S. 19 in both directions.

In all, about 50 Pasco Fire Rescue units worked with a state Forestry helicopter that dropped water on the blaze and four bulldozers, which plowed a fire break in nearby woods. Some units stayed at the scene overnight to make sure the fire didn't kick up again and spread.

Officials say conditions are prime for brush fires, and firefighters have been busy this month fighting blazes throughout the Tampa Bay area.

Another brush fire in swampland in Pasco broke out Wednesday night between Interstate 75 and State Road 52 in the San Antonio area, causing thick smoke, but it didn't threaten any structures. By morning, it appeared to be contained, dispatchers said this morning.

In Polk County on Wednesday, fire crews contained a seven-acre brush fire about 12:30 p.m. Wednesday that had forced the evacuation of 274 homes and 30 businesses in the Crystal Lake area.

Reporters Geoff Fox and Ray Reyes contributed to this report. Reporter Lisa A. Davis can be reached at (727) 815-1083.

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