3:48 pm Live update right now on the live feed.
350 acres, 55% contained, bulldozers, and helicopter on scene making water drops. Investigation ongoing.
Gusty winds are a factor in the fire.
All dozers are on right flank, south side of fire, making a fire line.
Nothing on the left flank, because of the wind direction. Come back to left flank, later.
Burned into [something] swamp, which is holding the fire.
This type of fire isn't that uncommon.
Has not crossed Shingle Creek, so hotels north of that are not in evacuation mode.
All inhabited areas are considered safe, no active evacuations in any areas, including theme parks.
No structural damage reported.
Sorry for the note method, above, I was typing as they were talking, so everything gets very fragmented.
The fire started at 11:15, by the time fire crews got to the scene, it was a 20 acre fire. Orange County Fire had used two bulldozers to contain the fire, but the fire got past them. The bulldozers were reassigned farther away, and now there are eight, trying to remove dry brush ahead of the fire. There is also a helicopter dropping 300 gallons of water at a time over the fire to slow it down.
These types of fires aren't that uncommon to central Florida, especially this time of year, as it is the dry season. But the faster than normal winds caused this particular fire to spread very quickly.
There were evacuations this morning, but the inhabited areas are where the fire crews worked on, first, to prevent the spread of the fire to those areas, and that is where most of the containment is.
