ST. JOHNS COUNTY, Fla. — Neighbors in St. Johns County are finally allowed to return to their homes after a brush fire forced dozens of families to leave the area.
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Video from a St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office helicopter showed the smoke with homes on both sides of where it started. This all happened along County Road 214 near Lexington Street and Power Line Road.
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It took a few hours but the fire is 100 percent contained. The St. Johns County Fire Rescue supervisor said crews will be keeping an eye on it overnight.
While dozens of neighbors had to leave their homes, Action News Jax was told that nobody was hurt and no homes were damaged.
The brush fire left dozens of homes at risk.
“You don’t really know what to think, you don’t know how to act,” Hope Sharpe, a neighbor, said. “I need to protect my life, my family’s life.”
ORIGINAL STORY: BREAKING: Some homes evacuated for St. Johns County brush fire near County Road 214
Neighbors along County Road 214 were told to evacuate after a 17 acre fire broke out Tuesday afternoon.
Sharpe lives right where it happened as smoke was going over her home. She picked up one of her three sons and was trying to get back to the rest of her family.
“I parked on the side of the road and I showed him my ID,” Sharpe said. “I said if you’re evacuating my kids, please let me get my kids. He finally let me come back and when I did the smoke was going across the road, it was dark, it was awful.”
St. Johns Fire Rescue officials said the fire started on the train tracks but the cause remains a mystery. Video given to Action News Jax’s Ben Ryan shows the flames, but officials said no homes were damaged and nobody was hurt.
“I went inside, packed up stuff, the kids, we didn’t even know what to do, we gotta’ get the dogs,” Sharpe said. “I didn’t even know what to pack, I called my husband, I called my sister at work and said what can I get for you? I grabbed her dad’s ashes and money jar and that was it.”
READ: 8-year-old boy killed in house fire that began as grease fire on stove, Jacksonville police say
It’s something she said had her shaking and crying.
Ben Ryan: “What are you thinking about? What’s running through your mind in those moments?
Sharpe: “Just, are we going to have a home to come back to? Are we going to be safe?”
The fire is now completely contained but crews will be checking on it throughout the evening. Firefighters are still working on hotspots as a lot of the area appeared to be smoldering.
Sharpe is thankful for the first responders and the community.
“I’m very appreciative to everyone who helped before it became a serious issue and we lost lives over it,” Sharpe said.
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Sharpe also said she’s thankful they didn’t have to start over.
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