PORT ST. LUCIE — A house was ravaged by a fire this morning, half of it consumed by flames by the time firefighters arrived.

Shortly after 7:30 a.m., St. Lucie County Fire District crews responded to the house in the 7900 block of Horned Lark Circle in the Savanna Golf Club community.

All the residents evacuated, according to district spokeswoman Catherine Chaney.

PORT ST. LUCIE — A toddler was flown to a trauma center in critical condition after he was hit by a vehicle last night.

St. Lucie County Fire District crews got the call short after 7 p.m. The boy, about 3 or 4 years old, was hit on McIntosh Street near Port St. Lucie Boulevard and Paar Drive, district spokeswoman Catherine Chaney said.

The boy was riding a scooter in the street in front of his house when he was hit, Chaney said.

He was flown to St. Mary’s Medical Center in West Palm Beach in critical condition.

FORT PIERCE – Captain Jennifer Chambers and Captain William French are the St. Lucie County Fire District firefighters of the year.

Both are field training officer captains, and are responsible for managing and coordinating the communications division, field training officers and training.

“It is exciting to see the motivation and initiative that these two individuals bring to our organization and the impacts that they have on public safety,” fire Chief Ron Parrish said.

Chambers has been with the district since 1998. Before becoming FTO captain in October 2008, she was captain of training and safety for emergency medical services. She has held many operational positions at the fire district, including being a flight medic and field training officer.

Chambers is a graduate of Indian River State College, received her BA degree in organizational management from Warner Southern College and has her graduate degree in public administration from Nova Southwestern University. Chambers grew up in Okeechobee.

French joined the fire district in 1993. He worked his way through the ranks, including lieutenant in the training and safety division, coordinator of the air rescue operations, and lieutenant field training officer/safety officer. He has been in his current position as captain FTO since October 2008. He is a graduate of Indian River State College and attended classes at the National Fire Academy. French grew up in St. Lucie County.

The St. Lucie County Fire District is the eighth largest fire department in the state of Florida and holds a metro status distinction. It employs 412 firefighters and 50 civilians. In 2008 crews responded to 36,992 calls – 4,811 fire related calls and 32,181 medical calls. They have 17 Fire Stations serving the 276,585 residents over 614 square miles.

PORT ST. LUCIE — A house fire has displaced a family from its home on Penrose Avenue.

St. Lucie County Fire District crews were called to the fire shortly before 2 p.m. on Tuesday. When they got to the house in the 1700 block of Penrose, the flames had spread to roughly half the house, district spokeswoman Catherine Chaney said. Chaney said firefighters had the blaze under control by 2:22 p.m.

The fire started in the back porch, reached the roof and then spread throughout the house, Chaney said. No one was home during the blaze, which also spread to a wooded lot next door.

The Red Cross is helping the family find temporary shelter. The cause of the fire is unknown.

St. Lucie County firefighters spent nearly two hours cleaning up a fuel spill Wednesday night.

At 11:25 p.m. special operations crews from the St. Lucie County Fire District was called to the spill at the 142 mile marker on Florida’s Turnpike, according to spokeswoman Catherine Chaney.

Roughly 75 gallons of fuel had spilled from a cargo truck after a crash. There were no injuries, Chaney said.

Firefighters were on the scene until 1:20 a.m.

FORT PIERCE – St. Lucie County officials, in conjunction with the St. Lucie County Fire District and Florida Division of Forestry, have implemented a county-wide burn ban effective immediately.

The burn ban applies to all non-permitted, outside burning and fireworks. Agricultural burning will be permitted on a case by case basis as authorized by the State Division of Forestry. The drought index for St. Lucie County is currently 672, out of 800. An index reading higher than 550 is considered extremely dry.

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FORT PIERCE — Torenda Youngblood stood outside his rust-colored house on Monday morning and tried to make sense of the death of his son.

The son who did what he was told, the father remembered. The son who was supposed to join the Navy after he was done with school. The son who was his namesake.

Torenda Youngblood Jr. died Monday morning after he was shot at his bus stop on the corner of Avenue K and N. 22 Street. He was 16.

He was also the city’s second homicide this year, and the fourth victim of a shooting since early Saturday.

“That is unusual,” Deputy Chief of Police James Nygaard said on Monday. “This has been a challenging weekend.”
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St. Lucie County Sheriff’s officials are investigating the death of a man whose body was found beside a canal north of Fort Pierce early this morning.

Someone walking in the area of North 25th Street and Avenue T found the body around 6:15 this morning and called 911, sheriff’s officials said.

Sheriff Ken Mascara said the body is that of a black male in his 40s or 50s, wearing jeans, a shirt and jacket. The body, which was found next to a bicycle, was soaked, suggesting that he had been in the canal. (more…)

PORT ST. LUCIE — A bicyclist is in critical condition after he was struck by a vehicle last night.

John Mejias, 19, was heading north in the 1900 block of Floresta Drive when he was struck from behind, Port St. Lucie police spokesman Officer Thomas Nichols said. Mejias, of Port St. Lucie, fell, hitting his head on a concrete driveway, Nichols said. (more…)

A man was flown to a burn center in critical condition on Friday night after working on a trailer in Fort Pierce.

The man, described to be in his mid-20s, had been using a saw to cut up the hitch of a pick-up truck in a wooden area off McNeill Road, St. Lucie County Fire District spokeswoman Catherine Chaney said. The trailer had a leaking gas tank and vapors from the tank ignited, causing a flash fire, Chaney said. (more…)