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Rain Provides Temporary Wildfire Relief

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By NEIL JOHNSON | The Tampa Tribune

Published: March 29, 2009

TAMPA - Rain from an approaching front today dampened wildfires that raged in Saturday's dry, windy conditions and allowed firefighters to contain most of them.

A fire that destroyed four structures in Polk County north of Lake Wales has been contained. That fire near Tiger Lake Road covered about 200 acres and temporarily forced the evacuation of homes and a Lions camp.

Also, a fire near Keystone Road in northern Pinellas County that on Saturday forced residents of six homes to evacuate was under control by Sunday afternoon. The fire that covered about 25 acres was caused by a power line.

In Pasco County, state Division of Forestry firefighters were working to contain a 250-acre fire in Big Cypress Swamp. The fire was not fully contained by calm winds and light rain were keeping it from spreading.

Today's bout of rain will bring only a single day of relief for firefighters. The National Weather Service says more dry air will move in Monday and humidity levels will drop in the afternoon.

The weather service has issued a fire weather watch for Monday afternoon through evening, meaning conditions could be ripe for fires to easily start and quickly spread.

The forecast contains one bit of better news for firefighters. Winds are not expected to be as brisk on Monday as they were Saturday. Windy conditions made corralling fires difficult.

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