Bryceville property owner billed $59,000 for 705-acre wildfire that began March 22

A 55-year-old Bryceville man cited by the state for illegally burning books and starting a wildfire that ended up scorching 705 acres in late March now has a $59,403.38 bill to settle for the personnel and machinery used to extinguish that blaze.

Brian Leon Sparks received the bill Monday from the Florida Department of Agriculture for “the amount we incurred in suppressing the fire,” according to its cover letter.

The invoiced bill is on top of a misdemeanor criminal citation for failure to obtain a department permit and reckless land burning after he started burning old paperbacks and clutter outside his Wills Lane home March 22, according to Forest Service officials. The flames got out of control, forcing evacuations, damaging eight homes and prompting a massive fire-suppression effort.

The five-page invoice specifies dozens of pieces of equipment and people used to fight the fire. That includes $1,404 billed for the 13 hours a dozer/plow was used, $660 for 30 hours of work done by one ranger and $550 for the five hours an airplane was used. While high, the bill is not a state record, forestry spokeswoman Annaleasa Winter said.

“We had only fixed-wing aircraft up. If we had more aircraft up, it easily could have been triple,” she said. “This is for every person we had at work. We have an itemized table of rates. The computer system tracks that. … We came up with a fair amount.”

Fire crews from Nassau and neighboring counties joined with forestry workers to contain and extinguish the blaze over several days. The fire was declared officially under control April 28, Winters said.

Investigators from Florida’s Office of Agriculture Law Enforcement went to Sparks’ home March 23 to conduct a fire investigation, determining that “the debris pile contained materials which are illegal to burn,” according to state paperwork. Investigator J. Starling wrote that he saw evidence of burned “illegal materials,” namely papers from books.”

The Agriculture Department’s 47-page investigative report includes multiple photos of Spark’s scorched back yard, filled with burnt book pages, as well as aerial images of the fire’s damage in the community.

Failure to pay or make arrangements for payment within 30 days may result in an administrative fine, according to the bill’s cover letter. Payment plan options are available for Sparks.

He could not be reached for comment but was extremely remorseful to state officials during the firefighting, Winters previously said.

As for the misdemeanor criminal citation, Sparks was back in front of County Judge Wesley Poole on Tuesday morning for another pre-trial hearing in the case, according to court records.

Dan Scanlan: (904) 359-4549