INDIANTOWN — Thirteen fires still are burning in western Martin County, but none threaten homes and all are contained, forestry officials said today.

The fires, which destroyed two houses and damaged others, have burned through an estimated 2,000 to 3,000 acres in or near Indiantown and Palm City. The fires started on Mother’s Day and are expected to continue burning for about a week.

Three children, ages 7, 8 and 10, were arrested Wednesday for allegedly starting one of the larger fires in Indiantown. All three were released to their parents. More information about their arrests is expected today from the state Office of Agricultural Law Enforcement.

INDIANTOWN — Firefighters already contained a 1 acre flare-up today, even after 4 inches of rain fell overnight.

Officials say years of hurricane debris is keeping a fire near the Booker Park Community, and firefighters are focusing on extinguishing all smoldering vegetation as brush fires burn for a fourth day. Several firebreaks are inaccessible for crews in the Indian Wood Community, causing problems containing the Indian Trail Fire, according to a Division of Forestry release this morning.

As the rain helps, it also brings lightning that can spark new fires.

For firefighters, the “witching hour” comes not at midnight, but at midday, with the threat of dark magic buried deep in the ground.

The temperature rises, the humidity drops and a seemingly subdued fire can burst with surprising strength, sparked from burning muck.

Residents of Indianwood, a mobile home community in Indiantown for ages 55 and up, got a taste of that phenomenon firsthand this week, as embers suddenly blew across a nearly dry canal bed and shot flames up vines and through palmettos. Two houses were lost, another was saved only by a rapid change in wind, and people were injured as they fled the rapidly moving fire.

“People were running for their lives, really,” said Mel Smith, a retired firefighter who has lived in Indianwood for 17 years. “At one time you couldn’t see 10 feet with the smoke and the flames.”

Wildfires burned through nearly 3,000 acres in three days in western Martin County, fire and forestry officials said. Much of the fire was in and around Indiantown, with other blazes in Palm City near the Martin County landfill. By mid-morning Tuesday, there were at least 10 fires, authorities said. (more…)

Nilima Vyas

Wyn Loucke

Arrests were made at two local stores: Mapp Road Texaco in Palm City, where 50-year-old clerk Wyn Loucke sold alcohol to a 17-year-old resident, and A-1 Discount Beverage on Monterey Road in Stuart, where clerk Nilima Vyas sold beer to a teen, according to investigators.

No sales were made at the other locations to the concerned citizen volunteer that worked with detectives.

These operations continue year-round.

STUART — A California woman arrested for defrauding a Palm City couple out of hundreds of thousands of dollars in furniture, flooring and home accessories was sentenced to 15 years in prison as part of a plea deal she struck with state prosecutors.

In addition to prison, Corrine Victoria Blakely, who pleaded no contest to first-degree grand theft, was also ordered to pay $267,508 in restitution to the couple and serve 15 years of probation after her release from prison.

Authorities said Blakely, 47, fraudulently posed as an interior designer in 2006 when she was hired by a 67-year-old Palm City man to do about $400,000 in renovations to a home in the 3200 block of Southwest Winding Way.

Court papers show the man never received $129,000 worth of furniture for which Blakely was paid. When asked when the goods would arrive, Blakely provided fraudulent invoices and “padded bills,” which she falsified to perpetrate the fraud, investigators concluded.

As part of her plea bargain, state prosecutors dropped a count of organized fraud, grand theft from a person 65 years of age or older and practicing interior design without a license.

Blakely, who at one point had promised but later failed to repay thecouple, was arrested in January and extradited from California.

By staff report, TCPalm.com

PALM CITY — A nine-vehicle crash west of the turnpike this morning injured eight people, leaving one with serious injuries.

A flat-bed truck carrying ceramic tile struck a Ford pick-up truck on Martin Highway just west of 66 Avenue, Florida Highway Patrol spokesman Lt. Tim Frith said.

The truck, driven by 22-year-old Noah Schau, started a domino effect for a series of vehicles headed east, with the pick-up hitting the vehicle in front of it and so on, Frith said. One other driver heading west on Martin was also struck as a result of the crash.

The initial crash ignited the fire that engulfed the front of the flatbed truck and both the pick-up and Toyota Scion, Frith said.

“Everybody was able to get out before there was any huge fire,” Frith said.
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STUART — A man accused of using a shotgun to blast his way into a Palm City home about 9 a.m. last Thursday, only to be shot three times himself, is expected to be charged with attempted murder and armed burglary.

Rhonda Irons, Martin County Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman, said Monday that investigators are still probing the circumstances under which Christopher Reber, 23, of Stuart, is suspected of shooting his way into the home where Joe Russo and Linda Schultz live.

Schultz, 40, was home alone when Reber blew out the glass doors on the rear of her Lake Village home, reports said. She was slightly injured but grabbed a .40-caliber handgun and fired back at him, hitting him three times.
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Derick Culberson

Derick Culberson, 22, called 911 on Friday to report that he had been robbed at Jock Leighton Park by two men wearing black shirts who fled in a Chevy Impala, according to a Martin County Sheriff’s report. Twelve units – including supervisors, road patrol and K-9 – rushed to look for the suspects.

When Culberson was found, he was sitting on the ground by his pick-up, his hands and feet bound with zip ties, deputies said.

Inside his truck, investigators found a bundle of the same zip ties that had been on Culberson, the report states.

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PALM CITY – The other two times that someone broke into the house on Crossing Circle, nobody was home.

But Thursday was different. Linda Schultz was there, and so was her handgun.

Schultz called 911 shortly before 9 a.m. to report that a man had broken into her home in the 1500 block of Southwest Crossing Circle. She told them she thought she shot him, Martin County Sheriff’s officials said.

Christopher Reber

When Lake Village resident Linda Smyth rushed over to her neighbor after hearing gunshots, Schultz was bleeding from the neck, dialing 911.

“I’m proud of her,” Smyth said hours later. “I think it takes a lot of wherewithal to be able to be aware of your circumstances and fight back like that. A lot of people would be afraid to defend themselves.”

Schultz, 47, was transported to St. Mary’s Medical Center for her injuries. So was robbery suspect Christopher B. Reber, 23, who was in serious condition, sheriff’s spokeswoman Rhonda Irons said.

Charges against Reber are pending, Irons said. In the meantime, he is under custody on a St. Lucie County warrant regarding a forgery case.

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TALLAHASSEE — The long-sought Indian Street Bridge, along with 16 other transportation projects expected to bring money and jobs to the Treasure Coast, got the green light from the state Joint Legislative Budget Commission Wednesday.

The 14-member commission comprised of Senate and House members agreed, without debate, to accept $3.8 billion in federal dollars that will pay for a cornucopia of projects targeting transportation, health and education.

Backers say the package will help the state recover from the worst recession in decades.
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Kevin Freed

Martin County Sheriff’s deputies arrested Kevin J. Freed, 20, after investigators checking the Internet found that he had downloaded pornographic videos involving children onto his computer, a complaint affidavit states.

When deputies showed up on Friday at his Palm City house in the 9800 block of Southwest Santa Monica Drive, Freed told them he had pornographic movies on his computer but wasn’t sure whether any involved children.

According to investigators, they found multiple videos depicting children.

Freed is being held at the Martin County jail on $100,000 bail on child pornography possession charges.