Local Fire Crew Deployed to East Coast

LAKELAND | A Lakeland Fire Department crew was dispatched Wednesday to help battle one of several fires raging on the state's East Coast.

The four-member engine crew, who had been on alert for 24 hours, met with other fire crews from other counties Wednesday afternoon.

The other crews were to have brought two brush trucks from Hillsborough County, an engine and brush truck from the Tampa Fire Department and a team leader from Tampa, said Paul Roberts, a Lakeland Fire spokesman.

The team met at LFD's Station 6 at State Road 33 North and left for a staging area near Brevard County.

It is not known where, or how long, they will be positioned in the fire that has already damaged or destroyed more than 160 homes and scorched about 10,000 acres near Palm Bay and Malabar.

"Hopefully, they will be back in a couple days," Roberts said. "But they will keep them as long as they need them."

In Polk County, Florida Division of Forestry crews spent most of Wednesday "mopping up" a few small fires, but there was no major activity, said Gary Zipprer, who heads the Lakeland-based district.

Zipprer said one new fire involved about 5 acres on property controlled by the River Ranch Property Owners Association, which is commonly known as "The Hunt Club."

That fire destroyed "a couple of sheds and vehicles" at hunting camps, he said.

Officials said Wednesday night that the fire had been contained.

[ Jeremy Maready can be reached at 863-802-7592 or jeremy.maready@theledger.com. Ledger staff writer Bill Bair contributed to this report.]