Flames are still sparking up in an open field in North Collier County along Rail Head Boulevard, just East of Old 41 Road, after a brush fire sparked Wednesday afternoon .
The smell of smoke is also still heavy Thursday, as well as hazy conditions from the more than 30 acres burned.
"I was just getting off I-75 when one of the folks in the office called me about 6:30 a.m.," said Mike Howard, GoodCat Laboratories Production Manager. "There was a couple flames sparking up in the back, so when I got here a few minutes later, sure enough, there were random spots throughout the preserve back here."
Howard said his team began getting hoses out and buckets of water to get rid of some of the flames this morning. They also called 911.
"I could even start seeing the haze as I was approaching the Naples area on I-75," he said.
He said he's even having to mitigate the problem inside their building because the smoke is on the inside.
Firefighters worked hard to get the fire out yesterday afternoon after it sparked up in several spots. A chopper picked up water from a pond to fight the fire.
"The fire was kind of running parallel to our property towards us, so I kind of left here really with not a lot of concern until this morning," Howard said.
North Collier Fire Battalion Chief Frank Messana said it's the worst time for a brush fire to start because you have to deal with the switching of wind direction, but the good news is that there were no evacuations, no injuries and no damage to any structure.
"It’s very brushfire central out there right now," Messana said. "No smoking, no burning and no crazy stuff. Hopefully, we can keep it under control here in Florida."
A reminder: All of the Gulf Coast is under a burn ban as conditions remain dry.
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