Florida wildfire sends families packing in middle of the night

EAST NAPLES, Fla. (WINK)—Residents near Picayune Strand State Forest faced a terrifying night as sheriff's deputies knocked on doors, urging them to pack a bag with their most important belongings and evacuate as flames spread rapidly across the area.

Stan Mavromates, a neighbor, described the fear that gripped the community as the fire moved quickly through the forest. Flames were visible across the lake, and the speed at which they spread brought back memories of devastating California wildfires.

"It was scary because you saw black, you know, you saw flames right across the lake, and it was moving so quickly, you just had visions of California happening here," Mavromates said.

For those living nearby, the night was filled with uncertainty. Mavromates and his neighbors prepared to leave at a moment's notice, knowing that a shift in the wind could change everything.

"It's pretty unnerving, because we don't know, right? We're ready to go, we have a backpack, but the wind can shift, and your life can shift with it," he said.

When Mavromates walked across the street, the sight was alarming. Flames and black smoke filled the sky over the lake, a stark reminder of how close the danger was.

"We walked across the street, and you could look across the lake, and you just saw flames. This was last night and the black smoke," Mavromates said.

For Jim Winge, who has lived in the area for nearly 50 years, this fire brought a different kind of panic. He described the scene as chaotic, with a narrow road turning into a bottleneck as emergency crews rushed in and evacuees rushed out.

"It was mass chaos," Winge said.

He urged neighbors to grab everything important and leave quickly, warning that the fire could spread rapidly through the wooded areas surrounding their homes.

"Well, go try to grab everything that's important to you, and maybe you got a pickup truck or something that you can put it in to get out of there, because if it's coming, it's coming, you got a lot of woods around your house and stuff you're going to have, you're going to have problems with the fire," Winge said.

Winge was in an evacuation area but decided to stay home. His house was unharmed, and many neighbors expressed gratitude that they were able to return home safely.