After a busy morning of opening and closing, Interstate 95 in Brevard County remains open as crews continue to monitor the Tucker Fire.
- Fire has spread to more than 5,000 acres
- No homes in the area, so crews let fire burn itself out
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The Florida Forest Service said Tuesday afternoon that burnout was complete on the 5,000-acre fire that was sparked by lightning Monday afternoon. Smoke was pushing away from I-95, but motorists are urged to use caution during the overnight as winds die down.
The intentional burn by the St. Johns Water Management District, which owns the land, began around 10:30 a.m. Tuesday.
The fire was not accessible by bulldozers and equipment, so a helicopter flew over the area to burn a total of 5,000 acres of saw grass to prevent it from catching fire again.
Crews had recently used herbicide on the thousands of acres of vegetation, making it very dry despite recent rains.
VIDEO: The #TuckerFire is more than 2,000 acres https://t.co/S9oHK7F592 pic.twitter.com/wReGEJjP8M
— News 13 (@MyNews13) June 27, 2017
Crews from Brevard Fire, Florida Forestry Service and St. Johns monitored the burnout operation.
"To essentially give it nothing else to burn. We are just trying to speed the natural fire process along at this point," said Sean Gallagher, of the Florida Forestry Service.