Rifle Range fire burns 650 acres in Picayune Strand State Forest

COLLIER COUNTY, Fla. (WINK)—A massive firefight is underway in the Picayune Strand State Forest as crews battle a 650-acre blaze known as the Rifle Range Fire.

Crews from the Florida Forest Service, Florida Department of Environmental Protection, Greater Naples Fire and more are working to contain the fire. The latest update from the Florida Forest Service shows the fire is now 65% contained.

Voluntary evacuation orders were issued Monday to homes bordering the fire but were lifted Monday evening. No homes or businesses are threatened at this time.

WINK News anchor Annalise Iraola reported from Sabal Palm Road, just east of Brandy Lane, where crews are staging their response. The fire has moved deeper into the forest, making flames and smoke less visible from the road, but crews returning from the forest are covered in soot and ash.

One after one, brave men and women are heading into the thick of the 650-acre forest fire. Jesse Lavender, mitigation specialist for the Florida Forest Service, described the challenging conditions crews are facing.

"It's very demanding environment," Lavender said.

The terrain is hostile and tough to navigate. Lavender explained the obstacles firefighters are encountering in the dense forest.

"You have a lot of blow down from hurricanes, you have a lot of exotic Malalukas that they're having to go through," Lavender said. "It's really dense and thick for this fire."

From the ground to the air, crews are bulldozing lines in thick vegetation to keep the fire away from homes and people. 

Walter Luck, a nearby driver from East Naples, observed the scale of the fire. "It's a huge fire, and it might be the lightning," Luck said. "We always have now lightning in the early afternoon, and so maybe it was from there."

With Southwest Florida experiencing severe drought conditions, it doesn't take much for a fire to spread quickly. Lauren Kriedler, Weather Authority meteorologist, explained the dangerous conditions.

"With the dry vegetation that we're already experiencing across southwest Florida, considering the drought we're under, it just takes one lightning strike, one storm to pass through, one lightning strike to hit, and then catch on fire," Kriedler said. "And then, of course, that fire spreads very quickly."

On Monday, dark smoke clouds towered above the sky near homes and roads. The fire has since moved deeper into the Picayune Strand State Forest, but residents living near the forest can take steps to protect their homes.

Lavender urged homeowners to create defensible space around their properties. "Please try and create that defensible space around your house, clean your gutters, things like that," Lavender said. "So, if we have to come in, we can plow a line around your house and save your house."

The Florida Forest Service continues to monitor conditions as crews work to fully contain the Rifle Range Fire.