Blaze evacuates apartments, burns brush truck in North Naples

NORTH NAPLES, Fla. A brush fire forced evacuations in an apartment complex and destroyed a North Collier Fire Rescue District truck Monday near Immokalee Road and Interstate 75.

The Malibu Lakes Apartments were evacuated, district spokeswoman Christina Silverman said. Those residents were being allowed back into their homes as of 8 p.m. Monday.

Crews contained the fire by 7 p.m., Silverman said. The two crew members who were in Brush Truck 46 escaped before it was destroyed.

Chief James Cunningham ordered the firefighters to abandon the truck, saving their lives. One was taken to a hospital for observation and the other was unharmed, Silverman said.

The approximately $200,000 truck is a total loss, according to the district.

One northbound lane of I-75 was blocked near mile marker 110, the sheriff’s office said.

The fire began in the 5500 block of Jonquil Lane and jumped I-75, according to Silverman. It later split into four small, separate fires.

The cause remains under investigation.

Viewer-submitted video shows the fire as it appeared from the interstate.

Photos show the remains of the truck: