MARTIN COUNTY, Fla. — South Fork High School will resume classes Tuesday after it was closed Monday due to a brush fire burning in the area, officials announced.
According to a post on the school's Facebook page, officials made the decision after consulting with Martin County Fire Rescue.
"We are taking steps this afternoon to ensure all of our systems are fully operational in anticipation of safely welcoming students and employees back to school," the post said.
Martin County Fire Rescue and Florida Forest Service crews worked Sunday to extinguish the brush fire, located near the high school and the Foxwood neighborhood.
Neighbors told WPTV photojournalist Jeff Ringrose that an old, dry tree hit a power line west of Interstate 95 at the Hobe Sound exit.
"A tree fell on a line. That's all it took," one neighbor said.
Just before 2 p.m. Sunday, firefighters responded to the 10,000 block of Red Wing Drive. They found a 30-by-30 foot blaze, which spread to heavy brush nearby, fire rescue spokesman Cory Pippin told WPTV in an inquiry.
The fire escalated and quickly reached at least 50-plus acres and then 80 acres but was 80% contained around 6 p.m. Sunday.
The county agency is assisting Florida Forest Service with three brush trucks, three engines and a ladder truck.
A resident shot the fire from the parking lot of Christ Fellowship in Stuart.
Crews worked to keep the fire from houses on Hawkview Circle in the Foxwood neighborhood, Pippin said.
Pratt Whitney Road, in front of Foxwood, had to be been shut down by law enforcement.
No injuries were reported. No homes were damaged, and there is no threat to any, fire rescue said.
However, there is damage to power lines with electricity out in the area, including the high school.
About 6 miles north, the brush fire in the Hungryland preserve area in Martin County flared up Saturday and Sunday, burning between 50 and 70 acres but it is now 100% contained, according to Martin County Fire Rescue on Facebook.
On Thursday, it reached 800 acres but that night it was 100% contained.
Fire crews left the scene, but will likely return Monday to avoid flareups, the agency said. Also, Pratt Whitney Road has reopened, but motorists are encouraged to use caution because of possible smoke.
In St. Lucie County, there also was a brush fire Sunday.
A 1:27 p.m., units were dispatched to the 1200 block of Southwest Curry Street. Crews discovered a transformer blew and it ignited a brush fire, St. Lucie Fire Rescue posted on Facebook. There were no injuries and no structures damaged.
