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 — Three children, ages 7, 8 and 10, were arrested for allegedly starting a fire on Mother’s Day that has since destroyed two homes and threatened many others, the state Agriculture and Consumer Services Commission Charles Bronson announced Wednesday.

The children, whose names were not released, face charges of intentional burning of lands, a third-degree felony. All three were released to their parents.

The juveniles started the fire in a wooded area near Palm Beach Road and 173rd St. S.W. in Indiantown by striking matches and throwing them into grass and palmettos, according to a statement released by the commissioner’s office. (more…)

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…)

INDIANTOWN — Wildfires had consumed more than 2,000 acres in Martin County by Tuesday morning, and firefighters were working to contain the fires that were burning for a third day, officials said.

There were as many as 10 fires that firefighters had to contend with late Monday and overnight, according to Melissa Yunas, spokeswoman for the state Division of Forestry.

Three single-engine air tankers were called in late Monday to battle the main fire that threatened the Indianwood mobile home community, according to Melissa Yunas, spokeswoman for the state Division of Forestry.
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A deputy from the Martin County Sheriff’s office was hospitalized Monday after a single-car crash on Kanner Highway, authorities said.

Deputy Rebecca Brady, 39, was responding to the Indiantown area at about 4:50 p.m. Monday when she crashed on Kanner at Groveside Drive, according to the sheriff’s office.

She was transported to St. Mary’s Medical Center with what is believed to be non-life threatening injuries.

Deputies, who still are investigating the crash, believe bad weather may been a factor.

Brady has worked for the sheriff’s office for about five years. She is assigned to the uniform patrol division.

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.

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INDIANTOWN — An inmate was stabbed to death today in the recreational yard at Martin Correctional Institution, authorities said.

The stabbing occurred at about 9:30 a.m., said Jo Ellyn Rackleff, a spokeswoman for the Florida Department of Corrections. The inmate has not been identified because next of kin is still being notified, she said. No weapon has been identified.

A criminal investigation is underway, she said.

State officials said they are reviewing the actions of 10 employees at two Treasure Coast prisons in incidents where children were shocked with stun guns when visiting for Take Your Sons and Daughters to Work Day.

The incidents happened on April 23 at the Indian River Correctional Institution and the Martin Correctional Institution, according to the Department of Corrections. Several children, ages 8 through 14, were at the facilities for the educational initiative, department spokeswoman Jo Ellyn Rackleff said.

Five employees at each facility are on paid administrative leave for the investigation, she said. None of the children were seriously hurt, Rackleff said.
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INDIANTOWN — Another 3,500 job applications were taken Saturday at Timer Powers Park in Indiantown on the last day of a two-day job fair to recruit workers for the Florida Power & Light Co. Solar Power facility in western Martin County.

In all, 8,000 applied for some 1,100 jobs the project is expected to bring to the area before construction closes at the end of next year.

“That’s a fair but maybe conservative number,” said John Dinger of Workforce Solutions, which collected the applications and will immediately begin pre-screening them.
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Wondering if Florida Power & Light Co.’s proposed 300-mile natural gas pipeline will cut through your property?

The utility is hosting a meeting 4-8 p.m. today at the Indiantown Civic Center to give residents an up-close look at its plans for the proposed $1.5 billion project.

FPL announced plans for the Florida EnergySecure Line earlier this month, pitching it as a way to make the state less vulnerable to disruptions in natural gas supplies from the Gulf of Mexico.

If approved by the Florida Public Service Commission, the pipeline would run from Palm Beach County to Bradford County in north-central Florida, with about 10 miles in Martin County.

FPL wants the pipeline up and running as soon as 2014.