Hacienda Fire scorches 650 acres near East Naples, 50% contained

COLLIER COUNTY, Fla. (WINK)— A 650-acre fire is burning in the Picayune Strand State Forest and is 50% contained as of Tuesday morning, according to the Florida Forest Service.

Greater Naples Fire says the Hacienda Fire is near Sabal Palm and Morgan roads, east of the Azure community in East Naples. Many neighbors say the smoky air is similar to what they saw a few weeks ago when a different large brush fire burned around the same area.

"It looked like a volcano just erupted, all black smoke covering everything," said Keagan Garrison, a pest control specialist.

Pest control specialists Garrison and Aaron Brown were working in the nearby Azure community when the fire broke out. 

"As soon as we pulled up, there was just a big black cloud of smoke that was coming up across the entire horizon," said Brown.

RELATED: WINK News goes into the Picayune Strand State Forest as crews work to contain brush fire

East Naples visitor Walter Luck was out on the roads when the smoke caught his eye.

"We've seen a lot of smoke, and we were a little bit afraid, so we thought we would drive over here and have a look," Luck said.

He drove onto Rattlesnake Hammock Road to find the command center for the fire, where dozens of firefighters and first responders from across Collier County met to tackle the flames. Jesse Lavender is a mitigation specialist with the Florida Forest Service.

"The conditions right now, with the drought and everything, even though we've had some rain, we're still below where we should be with our water levels, which causes any type of little spark to really ignite and roar with the winds," Lavender said.

As crews work toward containing the flames, the smoke continues to get into nearby communities. There was a voluntary evacuation order for part of Monday afternoon, but the Collier County government called it off around 7 p.m.

"I do want to note that the firemen did a great job," Garrison said. "They were really quick. We saw a bunch of helicopters swooping in with the water."

Meanwhile, Luck says he is trying to do his part with what he has at home.

"At home, I put some water in a bucket, just in case I see some smoke or wood start to burn around the house, so I put out the fire hose so I am ready to extinguish the fire," Luck said.

Fire crews say they will be back Tuesday morning to continue fighting the flames.

The 650-acre fire was first reported to WINK News around 1:30 p.m. on Monday. Currently, the fire is at 50% containment.