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1,600-acre wildfire burns in Nassau County

A wildfire burns Thursday, April 20,2023, in the Bryceville area in Nassau County.
News4Jax
A wildfire burns Thursday, April 20,2023, in the Bryceville area in Nassau County.

A wildfire is burning over 1,600 acres in Nassau County, and firefighters are in position to protect homes if necessary.

Smoke in the Bryceville area prompted the Florida Highway Patrol to warn drivers that visibility might be affected on U.S. 301 south to the Interstate 10 area.

The patrol has closed County Road 121 at County Road 119. The fire has burned for more than a day in a rural area near St. Marys River.

Florida Forest Service spokesman Robert Chase said Nassau County has fire engines ready to protect homes in case the fire moves that way. They are plowing fire lines all over to get the fire stopped.

“It’s at 1,600 acres at 50% containment," Chase said. "We have 20 tractors on the ground continuing to put containment lines in and improving the current lines that we do have.”

No homes have been evacuated, but no new burning will be allowed because of weather conditions in the Forest Service’s Northeast Florida district.

Dan Scanlan is a veteran journalist with almost 40 years as a radio, television and print reporter in the Jacksonville area, as well as years of broadcast work in the Northeast. You can reach Dan at dscanlan@wjct.org, (904) 607-2770 or on Twitter at @scanlan_dan.