Wild Heron Fire in PCB area now 336 acres, 40% contained; burn ban in effect

PANAMA CITY BEACH — Crews continue to battel a wildfire that has burned hundreds of acres in Bay County.

According to a Thursday afternoon post on the Bay County, Florida Emergency Services Facebook page, the Wild Heron Fire covered approximately 336 acres and was 40% contained. The blaze is located on the west end of the Panama City Beach area, near the Wild Heron Community.

"It started around 12:30 p.m. (on Wednesday) when someone was working on ... a large piece of land clearing equipment, and that piece of equipment caught on fire," Valerie Sale, spokesperson for Bay County, said. "Because the low humidity and high winds that we are experiencing right now, it spread very quickly."

Sale also said no property damaged had been reported, and all roads throughout the area remained open.

A burn ban, however, was signed into effect by Tommy Hamm, chairman of the Bay County Commission. Another post on the local emergency services Facebook notes the ban is slated to be ratified by the board at its next meeting on Nov. 7.

Wild Heron resident were evacuated Wednesday, but they were allowed to return home later that day. No additional evacuations were in place as of Thursday afternoon.

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"The Florida Forest Service has ceased issuing burn authorizations in Bay County, surrounding counties have already issued bans, fire weather conditions support a ban, and resources needed to respond to fires all over the Chipola District are stretched thin," Hamm said in the post. "This is a step we need to take to hopefully prevent any additional fires in the coming days."

This article originally appeared on The News Herald: Wild Heron Fire in Panama City Beach area now 336 acres, 40% contained