Incidents

Vehicle dragging object might have caused 4 wildfires on State Road 417

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — Four separate wildfires popped up Monday morning off State Road 417 near Florida's Turnpike, officials said.

The first fire was reported at about 9:38 a.m. with the others coming at 9:48 a.m., 10 a.m. and 10:05 a.m.

Thick smoke billowed over nearby houses as the wind drove it away from the roadway.

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Sean Gallagher with the Florida Forest Service said a passing car or tractor-trailer was dragging something like a tailpipe or chains along the highway, creating sparks and causing the dry grass on the side of the road to catch fire.

"Someone dragging a chain on a trailer or a hot brake on a semi or something like that," he said.

Gallagher said a fire like Monday’s is rare.

Since 2011, 22 fires have been caused by equipment compared to 384 wildfires caused by lightning. Gallagher said conditions for the types of brush fires are high.

Channel 9 learned that anything up to 40 percent humidity is considered dry, and currently in Central Florida, it's at about 20 percent.

"Low humidity contributes to high probability of ignition, which means that any hot spark, any ember has a higher likelihood of actually starting a fire," Gallagher said.

Gallagher said he hopes people will use caution during the holiday season.

“Make sure your campfires are out. Don't dump your charcoal grill over in the backyard, and make sure things are dead-out cold before walking away from it,” he said.

Officials said about one acre burned.