INDIAN RIVER COUNTY — Several people were briefly evacuated after a brush fire ignited Friday afternoon several feet away from an apartment building in south county, officials said.
No injuries were reported in the incident, Indian River County Fire Rescue Battalion Chief Roger Dion said.
“It smelled like a barbecue,” said 25-year-old resident Siobhan Adams, who lives on the third floor of the building that was near the flames. “Deputies and maintenance workers started banging on doors. They were attentive to get to all the doors. They did an awesome job.”
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Firefighters responded to reports of a blaze about 2 p.m. Friday at Preserve at Oslo apartment complex. The fire ignited in a wooded area near an apartment building in the southeastern corner of the complex, near 20th Avenue Southwest and 10th Road Southwest.
The flames charred three to five acres of shrubs and climbed up several trees, Dion said. Smoke and ash swirled in the wind as crews battled the flames.
“The tree limbs were about 10 to 20 feet away from the building,” Dion said. “The building could have been on fire.”
Firefighters and Indian River County sheriff’s deputies fully evacuated one building closer to the blaze and half of another building nearby, Dion said. Adams, who was taking a nap when deputies knocked on her door, said maintenance workers and deputies helped her by grabbing her 8-month-old child and two dogs from the unit.
“They were patient with me to round up the animals,” Adams said.
Resident Susan Paine, who lives on the second floor, said the incident was “terrifying.”
“I’m still shaking,” said Paine, 48, who has lived at the complex for seven years. “I didn’t expect something like that. All my possessions are in (my apartment).”
Paine said deputies and firefighters did an excellent job in their response to the blaze.
Fire crews knocked down the flames shortly before 3 p.m. and allowed residents in the building further away from the fire to return. Firefighters fully extinguished the blaze about 4:30 p.m. and allowed residents in the other building back to their homes.
Crews will be monitoring the area periodically to make sure the flames do not rekindle, Dion said. Details on what sparked the fire were not available.