Fire Service continues to monitor five Polk County wildfires

The Florida Fire Service is continuing to monitor five wildfires in Polk County, including the 138-acre Mud Dauber Road fire, which destroyed approximately 50 hunting camps overnight Tuesday, and the 450-acre Old Blade Line fire that has been burning for two weeks in the middle of a swamp.

Marilyn Meyer @marilyn_ledger

LAKELAND — The Florida Fire Service is continuing to monitor five wildfires in Polk County, including the 138-acre Mud Dauber Road fire, which destroyed approximately 50 hunting camps overnight Tuesday, and the 450-acre Old Blade Line fire that has been burning for two weeks in the middle of a swamp.

Todd Chlanda, spokesman for the Lakeland district of the Florida Fire Service, said there is no damage estimate on the Mud Dauber fire, which broke out at about 3 p.m. Tuesday in the River Ranch area southeast of Indian Lake Estates.

High winds drove the flames across a narrow scrub area of palmettos, pine and mulberry trees, destroying a variety of hunting camp structures and vehicles, he said.

“It’s hard for us to tell what the structures were once they have been destroyed but they ranged from little camping trailers up to larger trailers, RVs, even actual buildings,” he said.

He said the Mud Dauber fire is contained. “We will continue to check on it until there is no smoke anywhere and it is cool to the touch.”

The larger Old Blade fire likely will continue to burn until we have a significant rain that puts it out, Chlanda said.

The closest homes are about a quarter mile away in the Nalcrest area near Lake Wales. That fire was sparked by lightning March 25. Four days later, smoke was an issue for area homes but the smoke has died down and is not a concern for residents now, he said.

Because the 450-acre fire is in the middle of a 2,000-acre swamp it is difficult to get bulldozers and other firefighting equipment to it, Chlanda said.

“It is smoldering and kind of meanders around but is staying within our containment lines,” he said.

The three other fires are smaller, ranging in size down to a couple of acres. Two, like the Mud Dauber and Old Blade fires, are in Southeast Polk, which has not had the rain the Lakeland area has, Chlanda said.

Another wildfire is also burning in an isolated area in Northeast Polk.

On Friday, Lakeland-area residents may have noticed smoke in the Green Swamp from a prescribed burn set by the Southwest Florida Water Management District as a wildfire prevention and habitat management measure.

The prescribed burns are expected to continue this month through June on the Green Swamp Wilderness Preserve Hampton Tract, north of Rock Ridge Road and east of U.S. 98, north of Lakeland, according to a news release from the district

“Approximately 1,083 acres will be burned in small, manageable units,” the release said.

Prescribed burns require permits from the Florida Fire Service and coordination with fire officials.

As of Thursday, the Florida Fire Service was fighting 33 wildfires involving 33,605 acres across the state.

Marilyn Meyer can be reached at marilyn.meyer@theledger.com or 863-802-7558.

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