PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. — From Palm Beach County to the Treasure Coast, our dry weather is creating dangerous conditions.
There are more than 60 active wildfires in Florida, and crews are working to gain control of one in Palm Beach Gardens.
"It started to run and with the high winds it moved very quickly," said Scott Peterich with the Florida Forest Service.
Smoke spread and winds helped fuel a stubborn wildfire in Palm Beach Gardens, west of Beeline Highway, on Tuesday.
"These soils are so sandy it makes it a real big challenge to get around," Peterich said.
The Florida Forest Service took WPTV on a ridealong.
The flames scorching trees, jumping across the grass and spreading to 1,150 acres, but we're told it's now 100% contained.
"We're making progress. We were fortunate this morning the winds were down and we did additional work putting a lot of lines in," Peterich said.
The fire sparked Monday northwest of the Avenir development.
Officials say it was accidental, caused when a contractor's Bobcat caught fire.
"With these dry conditions that we have right now it doesn't take much for a fire to get started," Peterich said.
More than 5,500 acres across the state are burning as of Tuesday evening, and the Florida Forest Service is urging people to avoid outdoor fires under extremely dry conditions, especially heading into a holiday weekend.
"Unattended campfires, grilling. We're just asking people to be extra careful because once that fire gets started it's very difficult to control," Peterich said.
Firefighters said this wildfire could continue to burn for several days, but the good news no homes or buildings are in danger.
