JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Firefighters have contained a small brush fire along St. Johns Bluff Road.
Annaleasa Winter with the Florida Forest Service says crews pumped 28,000 gallons of water on the 2.5 acre fire today.
The smoke this afternoon is not as heavy as it was earlier today or yesterday.
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SLIDESHOW: ST. JOHNS BLUFF ROAD FIRE]
One lane of St. Johns Bluff Road between Beach Boulevard and Alden Road is still blocked off.
There are still spot fires popping up. Firefighters say these flames are okay. They're treating it like a controlled burn. They say as long as the spot fires are within the surrounded area, they'd prefer it to burn all the excess shrubbery so, that later on, it's not as big of a fire threat.
The fire that started small on Tuesday quickly grew in size, because of the 30 mile-per-hour winds.Melissa Linkous, one of the first eyewitnesses to the flames, immediately called for help. "There was nobody on the scene or anything yet so I pulled over and called 911 and let them know there was a fire that was spreading really fast."
Because of the strong winds, the fire jumped and spread, engulfing all of St. Johns Bluff Road in thick white smoke.
We're learning that this could just be the beginning of what's to come if the dry weather continues.
"What we're asking everybody to do is be very careful, wildland fire is a real danger this week and we want everybody to be aware of that," said JFRD Chief Martin Senterfitt.
Chief Senterfitt says the cause could be as small as a discarded cigarette, but once the fire starts, Senterfitt says it can be hard to extinguish because of the winds.
