UPDATE: Brush fire near Wewahitchka reported contained
UPDATE 8 P.M. CENTRAL —
The fire is reported as being contained at this time.
ORIGINAL REPORT —
According to the Florida Forest Service, a brush fire has been reported north of Highway 22 near Wewahitchka.
At this time, FFS reports that the fire is 0 acres and 0 percent contained. It is being closely monitored at this time.
The fire, currently named the Road 5 fire on FFS’s website, is causing a smoke screen across Highway 22. Officials say that smokey smells have been reported in Overstreet and surrounding areas due to higher than normal wind speeds of about 35 miles per hour.
According to Gulf County Emergency Management Director Matt Herring, the fire resulted from a controlled burn last week, which reignited causing a small, low fire.
Windy conditions, brought by Hurricane Ian which made landfall in southwest Florida late this afternoon, have created an elevated fire risk in Northwest Florida, where rainfall has been minimal for about two weeks.
This report will be updated as more information becomes available.
Meet the Editor
David Adlerstein, The Apalachicola Times’ digital editor, started with the news outlet in January 2002 as a reporter.
Prior to then, David Adlerstein began as a newspaperman with a small Boston weekly, after graduating magna cum laude from Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts. He later edited the weekly Bellville Times, and as business reporter for the daily Marion Star, both not far from his hometown of Columbus, Ohio.
In 1995, he moved to South Florida, and worked as a business reporter and editor of Medical Business newspaper. In Jan. 2002, he began with the Apalachicola Times, first as reporter and later as editor, and in Oct. 2020, also began editing the Port St. Joe Star.