Bradford County Wildfire Grows to 16,000 Acres

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HAMPTON, FL -- Two fires, one in Bradford County, and another near Camp Blanding, have merged to form a massive 16,000 acre wildfire across three counties.

700 people and 250 homes have been evacuated according to the Division of Forestry.

The fire is burning south of Starke along State Road 100 and Highway 18 near Hampton.

State Road 100 is closed between Starke and Keystone Heights.

The Red Cross opened a shelter at the Trinity United Methodist Church, located at 4000 53rd Street in Gainesville. It had to close a shelter at the Waldo Baptist Church due to smoke.

A second shelter is up and running at the Madison Street Baptist Church at 900 West Madison Street in Starke.

At 10 p.m. Monday, eight full hours into the blaze, Bradford County Sheriff Bob Milner acknowledged the fire was still out of control despite heroic efforts by dozens of local and state firefighters.

"Clearly neither fire is under control right now. We still have pretty good winds, and the fire on the South is at the Santa Fe Swamp which is actually doing us a favor. This fire that just crossed State Road 80 is coming off (State Road) 100 which is the big one we're worried about now."

Evacuation orders have been issued for Griffis Loop to Batten Road near Theressa. Griffis Loop is north of Keystone Heights off State Road 100.

A third wildfire is burning along the Clay County-Bradford County line. The fire is burning along State Road 230 and is 500 acres and not threatening any homes.

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