Neighborhoods in Collier County on high alert as wildfire continues to burn

Reporter: Gina Tomlinson
Published: Updated:
Collier County fire (WINK News)

Some neighborhoods in Southwest Florida are on high alert at risk of being impacted by the fire burning in Collier County.

There is a high fire danger in the areas highlighted on the map below:

We’ve watched fire trucks come back and forth along Beck Road. As of Friday evening, mandatory evacuations were lifted, but firefighters want those and surrounding areas to be on alert in case the fire escalates.

As of now, they have several trucks parked along the road and firefighters are inside a wooded area continuing to set up fire lines to keep the flames from spreading.

Other than the windy weather, it seemed like a pretty normal day in Debra Rink’s neighborhood, but just miles away, a massive wildfire that’s already touched more than 8,000 acres in its path.

“We saw the first fire and then we saw the second fire and then we got home and it jumped the highway and came over here toward us,” Rink said.

Scott Russo lives in Club Naples off Beck Road where the sounds of nature are eclipsed by helicopters carrying buckets of water.

“It’s nothing to play around with,” he said.

Deputies have blocked off his RV park since Wednesday and now, he says he’s running out of food and clothes.

“It’s not in my backyard yet, so,” Russo said, so he packed up with his best friend. “That’s my six-month-old Fionna,” he said of his dog. “Her dog food, her chains, her balls, all her stuff.”

And while Rink doesn’t have to leave her neighborhood yet, firefighters warn she and her neighbors need to be ready to go at a moment’s notice.

”Trying to get somewhere right now is going to be a little bit harder because of our times and quarantine,” she said. “For my home, personally, if it’s affected or not, it’s not an issue. It’s all just stuff, so.”

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