LAKE WALES, Florida — A massive 700-acre fire that has forced residents from their homes overnight in Polk County is considered suspicious. A reward is being offered.
A mandatory evacuation was lifted about 4 p.m. Officials are asking residents who return home to stay there and not stay on the roads.
Crews will remain on the scene all night watching for flare ups.
The fire started Friday at around 4:30 p.m. Several structures were destroyed, but none are believed to be homes.
At this point, the fire is 60 percent contained.
“It was like a roar, but it was like a crackling noise the way it was burning,” Burrell Swears, who lives in Indian Lake Estates, said.
“When you hear that, it sounds like a train coming at you, just roaring, and you go,” Charles Davison, another resident, explained.
Fortunately, no homes were damaged in the fire, which was a relief for Swears and Davison.
“Wherever you look you see black, black, black,” Davison said. “Except where we live.”
Officials are calling the fire suspicious, and posted reward signs in the area asking people to be on the look out for an arsonist. At least five other fires started in the same subdivision last week.
“Can’t be very mentally stable to be threatening people’s lives like that,” Davison said.
Officials say the fire is suspicious because there have been no lightning strikes and they can't find anything else that they believe could have started a fire. There is a $5,000 reward for information that leads to the arrest of anyone intentionally starting a fire.
If you know something, you’re asked to call 1-800-342-5869.
The fire started as two separate fires, but one, they were able to put out. The second fire is what has grown into what they're calling the 'Red Grange' fire.
Nearly 100 firefighting vehicles and hundreds of firefighters have been on the scene. The operation was scaled down overnight so firefighters could rest. They were back out today, continuing to draw fire lines and protect homes.
There are around 800 homes in the subdivision and 8,000 lots.
