BOCA RATON, Fla. — Fire personnel on Monday are on the scene again of a brush fire near a Costco in Boca Raton that started early Thursday and the next day was contained but not extinguished.
At 4:08 p.m. Sunday, Boca Raton police sent an alert that all northbound lanes in the 7400 block of South Congress Avenue were shut down "due to brush fire. Please avoid area."
But at 5:38 p.m., police said all lanes had reopened.
WPTV reporter Ethan Stein said the brush fire is difficult to see but it "really smells like a campfire and it's even been difficult to breathe."
The fire was rekindled at 2:30 p.m. in the 217-acre Yamato Scrub Natural Area next to Costco.
"Considering the weather, it is still fairly dry and some wind in the area," Anne Marie Connolly, the public information officer for the city of Boca Raton, told WPTV. "We still have some small areas of smoldering mulch and undergrowth. The smallest of embers can set off a fire."
She said they will continue to have a crew there "to keep an eye out so they can jump into action."
Boca Raton Fire Rescue requested mutual aid from Palm Beach County Fire Rescue.
The county agency dispatched three brush trucks, three engines and one 3,000-gallon water tanker to the incident. They were still on the scene at 4:40 p.m., PBCFR told WPTV.
Initially, Boca Raton Fire Rescue said the fire grew to 10 acres Friday. It burned in a scrub area where there is plenty of dried-out vegetation and gusty winds fanning the flames.
It was contained Friday morning but it flared up again before being extinguished that night.
Firefighters from Delray Beach also were earlier on the scene.
How the fire in Boca Raton started is still being investigated.
In Miami-Dade County, there are significant traffic disruptions on Sunday afternoon due to a large brush, WTVJ reported.
