By JASON SCHULTZ

INDIANTOWN— Fires that broke out near Indiantown in western Martin County over the weekend continued to burn last night and have charred more than 1,400 acres while crews tackled another large fire near Palm City, according to fire officials.

Residents from the Indianwood Mobile Home Park were evacuated and the American Red Cross has opened its shelter on Kanner Highway in Stuart for fire evacuees, according to a Martin County press release last night.

Three of the four brush fires that burned hundreds of acres near Indiantown, closed roads and prompted authorities to cut power in the Treasure Coast Sunday continued to burn overnight.

Two flare-ups occurred this afternoon.

The one between the Booker Park fire and the Lincoln Park fire was about 3 acres, said Melissa Yunas, a wildfire specialist with the state Division of Forestry.

The second flare-up, near the Indian Trail fire, jumped over a canal and headed toward three homes in the Little Ranch Estates neighborhood.

Firefighters took up positions around the homes.

Also Monday evening, Yunas said, crews were fighting a 100-acre blaze east of the Martin County Landfill near Palm City. That fire, which is on farm land owned by the Kiplinger family that publishes several national financial newsletters and magazines such as Kiplinger Personal Finance, was about 10 percent contained as of 6:30 p.m., Yunas said.

The Palm City fire was believed to be caused by lightning, she said.

A Martin County Sheriff’s deputy was also injured Monday when she lost control of her cruiser while responding to the fires in Indiantown.

Deputy Rebecca Brady, 39, crashed her cruiser on State Road 76, also known as Kanner Highway, near Indiantown, said Martin County Sheriff’s spokeswoman Rhonda Irons.

Brady, who has been with the department for five years, was flown to St. Mary’s Medical Center in stable condition with injuries not believed to be life threatening, Irons said.

Sheriff’s investigators believe bad weather contributed to the crash.

The fires in Martin County included a 400-acre brush fire that threatened nine apartment buildings and a concrete plant, but prompted no evacuations.

That blaze, which was about 80 percent contained as of 12:30 a.m. Monday, was burning near Indiantown’s Lincoln Park neighborhood, she said.

While those fires were 80 percent or more contained by shortly after midnight Sunday, Florida forestry officials say the smoke from the blazes could be a concern for drivers on State Road 710, known as the Beeline Highway, and County Road 609 this morning.

“You have to use your headlights. It’s like a total haze, like something out of a movie,” said Indiantown resident Kevin Powers. “It is right at the backside of town.”

They also will now focus on trying to track the source of the various brush fires that required more than 100 firefighters to protect homes and apartment buildings all Sunday.

Officials shut down the Beeline and the CSX railroad tracks as firefighters battled the wildfire. Four railroad box cars and the Rinker Concrete Plant were threatened most of the day, as were nine Lincoln Park apartment buildings.

Firefighters extinguished those flames by lighting a second fire and letting the blazes snuff each other out, Yunas said Sunday.

Firefighters also contained a 10-acre fire near Booker Park which began just after 1:30 p.m. and was fully contained by 2 p.m.; a 50-acre fire near the Indian Wood mobile home community which merged with another 50-acre fire off Cherokee Drive was completely contained by midnight.
In St. Lucie County a 4-acre brush fire on South East Bur Street was contained last night just before 10 p.m., according to the last update from Yunas at 12:30 a.m.

Anyone having information about these fires is asked to call the Arson Alert Hotline at 1-800-342-5869.

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