Crews prevent destruction of any homes in Indian Lake Estates fire

LAKE WALES — Standing in her back yard Saturday morning, Edy Beasock sprayed water from a garden hose onto smoldering trees and palmettos in a wooded lot beside her property.

Beasock wore a green T-shirt bearing images of cats and the word “Lucky.”

That adjective summed up how many residents of Indian Lake Estates felt Saturday.

Fire crews working from Friday afternoon through the night managed to prevent a 700-acre fire from destroying any houses in the unincorporated community east of Lake Wales.

“I was blessed,” said Beasock, 63. “We were all blessed.”

For Beasock and others living on Poinciana Drive, the blaze created hours of worry that their houses would be consumed.

The fire was 60 percent contained by Saturday evening, officials said, and no injuries were reported. Authorities dubbed it the Red Grange fire because it burned near a road named for the late football star, who lived in Indian Lake Estates in his last years.

A mandatory evacuation order issued Friday afternoon was lifted at 4 p.m. Saturday.

The fire has been ruled suspicious and is under investigation because no lightning strikes were recorded Friday. Lightning is typically the source of wildfires in southeast Polk County, officials said.

Earlier Saturday month, authorities reported five suspicious brush fires in a two-day span near Indian Lake Estates. All are being investigated as possible arson.

The fire that began Friday destroyed a maintenance building and a few sheds and vehicles as the flames crept to the very edges of some houses.

At the height of the fire, about 200 firefighters and 100 vehicles were battling the blaze, officials said. Fire crews came from as far away as Hillsborough and Osceola counties to help combat the blaze, Polk County Commission Chairwoman Melony Bell said during a news conference Saturday morning.

As the flames spread Friday, pine trees burst with flames rising 30 to 40 feet in the air. Florida Forest Service fire crews used tractors to cut fire breaks around parcels, protecting homes under threat before turning their attention to the fire itself.

That strategy worked, and Saturday morning scorched areas ended at the borders of yards along Poinciana Drive, a long road running east and west in the center of the community. The fire zone ran along both sides of that road.

Though authorities tried to enforce Friday's mandatory evacuation order, not all residents actually left the community of about 800 homes spread over 8,000 lots. As of Saturday morning, authorities were still urging those who stayed being to leave for their own safety.

"If they stay, it is at their own risk," Polk County Manager Jim Freeman said during a morning news conference at the Indian Lake Estates Clubhouse.

Mike Snyder left his house on Poinciana Drive at the direction of law-enforcement officials Friday afternoon, but he didn't vacate Indian Lake Estates.

Snyder, who has lived with his wife in the community since 2010, said he took refuge at the home of a friend inside the community but well outside the fire zone.

“It was a little scary,” Snyder said of the evacuation. “We had, like, 15 minutes. I saw the fire just across the road there, and about the time I got out of here, it was starting to burn behind these houses” — he pointed to neighboring homes.

Snyder, 64, said his son, a Polk County firefighter, was working on a fire engine sent to the scene and kept him updated as the evening progressed. Snyder said he returned about 6 a.m. Saturday to check on his house.

“They must have come in and blasted it with a hose because we’ve got mulch inside,” Snyder said. “But they saved our house.”

Snyder stood in his burned front yard Saturday morning watching sprinklers he set up in a burned lot of woods adjacent to his property. Snyder said he was guarding against “hot spots” that might flare up again.

The fire got close enough to melt window canopies on the side of the house closest to the burned lot. Electrical service was out in Snyder’s house and elsewhere on Poinciana Drive.

As Snyder attended to his yard, another resident, Rick Reed, arrived in a golf cart. Reed lives several streets to the south, in the area where a 5,600-acre fire in February destroyed some homes.

Snyder and Reed said it seemed obvious the most recent fires had been deliberately set.

Speaking of a possible arsonist, Reed said, “I wish they’d just find that son of a ----- and let us at him for just 15 minutes.”

On the other side of Poinciana Drive, fire consumed a small boat and its outboard motor and trailer parked in a grassy area between two houses. The front yard of the nearest home was charred all the way to the edge of a garage.

Fire scorched a large, wooded section bordering the back yards of houses on the south side of Poinciana Drive. The blaze destroyed a yellow pickup parked behind one home, as well as a nearby shed.

Beasock said she only moved into her rented home on Poinciana Drive two weeks ago. She said she took her husband to Vero Beach to stay with their son Friday afternoon, and as she approached the Kissimmee River bridge on her way back, she saw smoke billowing.

“By the time I turned into here, I realized my house was fixing to go up,” she said. “I was devastated. I thought I had lost everything I’ve worked for.”

Beasock said authorities gave her about five minutes to gather her two dachshunds and a 22-year-old cat. She went to stay with a friend who lives elsewhere in Indian Lake Estates.

Despite the evacuation order, Beasock said, she returned home late Friday night.

“It was flareups, but it was safe,” she said. “If it wasn’t safe, I wouldn’t have come back. ... I was overwhelmed. A lot of weight went off my shoulders — that I had a house.”

As three trucks from Peace River Electric Cooperative drove past her house, she said her power remained out.

The fire melted the plastic lining around windows on one side of her house, the covering of her outside air-conditioning unit and the outer wall of her above-ground pool. The pool was full of soot and ash, and the soffit was darkened by smoke exposure along the east side of the house.

“I think somebody’s vindictive on Indian Lake Estates,” Beasock said of a possible arsonist. “I hope they catch the son of a -----. Excuse my French because I didn’t know if I had a house left or not.”

Charred pine trees and palmetto plants smoldered in the many natural areas throughout the community. Pockets of flames flared occasionally as seemingly confused mockingbirds and blue jays flitted around their baked habitat.

Before the evacuation order was lifted, residents clustered near the State Road 60 entrance early Saturday afternoon and some grew impatient awaiting permission to return to their homes.

At one point, an Indian Lake Estates security officer addressed the gathering, saying he would begin escorting residents who had an urgent need to get to their homes, such as retrieving medications or checking on pets.

The unidentified security employee said he would take one resident at a time and then bring each back to the entrance.

“The first person who doesn’t cooperate, no one else is going back,” he said.

Some of the waiting residents didn’t like that plan.

“Why in God’s name would you come back?” a man called out loudly. “That’s dumb.”

A woman standing beside the road yelled, “You need to use a little common sense.”

Paul Dabolt was among those waiting for clearance to return to his home on Poinciana Drive. Dabolt, 70, said he bought the house last year as a winter home.

Dabolt had planned to leave this weekend for his primary home in New York. He picked up his son, Jeremiah Dabolt, at Orlando International Airport on Friday afternoon. He said he could see the smoke from an airport parking lot.

Paul Dabolt said he discovered the Hampton Inn and Suites in Lake Wales was fully booked Friday night, mostly with people displaced from Indian Lakes Estates. He found another hotel with a vacancy.

Father and son had planned to shut off the water supply, load up their car with possessions and begin the drive Saturday to New York. As the security officer began offering to escort residents to their homes, Dabolt wondered whether his situation qualified as an emergency.

As he waited, a helicopter chugged overhead carrying a water bucket to drop on the fire.

Dabolt said he had stood a few feet from Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd during a news conference Friday night as Judd promised justice for the person who started the fires.

“Apparently, they get some kind of thrill or kick out of it, these arsonists,” Dabolt said. “It’s crazy.”

Polk County is under a Red Flag Warning issued by the National Weather Service because the dry conditions create the threat of brush fires. Less than an inch of rain — 0.9 of an inch — had fallen in April through Saturday. For all of April 2016, 2.04 inches fell, while the long-term average is 2.69 inches for the month.

With the increased fire danger, a burn ban has been imposed in Polk County. Any person who violates the ban can be punished by a fine of up to $500 and/or up to 60 days in the county jail.

The ban applies to any outdoor burning not regulated by the Florida Division of Forestry.

There was a hint of hope Saturday afternoon as dark clouds gathered in the sky above Indian Lake Estates. But the National Weather Service registered no rain Saturday in Polk County.

FEMA to help pay

The Federal Emergency Management Agency said Saturday that it will help pay for fighting the Indian Lakes Estate Fire.

FEMA grant funding is available to reimburse 75 percent of the firefighting costs for managing, mitigating and controlling the fires. Eligible costs can include labor, equipment and supplies used for fighting the fire and costs for emergency work such as evacuations and sheltering, police barricading and traffic control.

Federal fire management assistance grants are provided through the President’s Disaster Relief Fund and made available by FEMA to reimburse costs associated with fighting fires that threaten to cause a major disaster. Eligible state firefighting costs covered by the aid must first meet a minimum threshold for costs before assistance is provided.

— Gary White can be reached at gary.white@theledger.com or 863-802-7518. Follow on Twitter @garywhite13.

The danger of brush fire in Polk County is high because of the dry conditions and the abundance of dead plant matter.

Polk County Jim Freeman said firefighting resources are stretched thin becauise of the Indian Lake Estates fire and other brush fires that have sprung up around the county.

He asked residents to stay vigilant and call 911 immediately if they see a fire. He also asked them to report any case that may be arson.

The county has imposed in Polk County. Any person who violates the ban can be punished by a fine of up to $500 and/or up to 60 days in the county jail.

The ban applies to any outdoor burning not regulated by the Florida Division of Forestry.

The Florida Forestry Arson Alert Association is offering up to a $5,000 reward for information leading to an arrest.

If you have information about a fire thought to be set by an arsonist, call the Florida Division of Forestry at 800-342-5869.

IF YOU SEE A FIRE