NAPLES, Fla. — Homes along 6th Avenue NE had to be evacuated due to a brush fire on Tuesday afternoon in Golden Gate Estates.
According to Greater Naples Fire Rescue, the 10-acre fire was near 6th Avenue NE and Everglades Boulevard.
“I was talking to my neighbors on the phone. They said your backyard is gone, so I was picturing everything's gone," said John Huffman, who lives on 6th Avenue NE.
Huffman is one of many on 6th Avenue NE and 4th Avenue NE who had to evacuate and leave everything behind.
"When I pulled in the driveway and seeing the flames I mean, they were all the way up,” said Huffman.
When Huffman came home, he said firefighters were protecting it from the flames.
He says if it was not for the fast actions of firefighters, he could have lost way more than the two acres of land behind his home.
The Collier County Sheriff's Office brought out its helicopter and dropped at least 20 buckets of water to help put out the fire.
"We are right now in wildfire season, so if you're not prepared, please get you know emergency bags together," said Tiffany Wood, Greater Naples Fire Rescue District Public Information Officer. "Make sure that you're ready to go just in case we need you to be evacuated because your life is more important than anything.”
Wood says thankfully no one was hurt but a shed, ATV, two airboats, one vehicle, and a riding lawnmower were damaged.
For people who live in the estates, it is a good reminder of just how fast a fire can spread.
“They've been close but never this close. Never my backyard like this," said Huffman. "I'm not gonna let that brush grow again, for obvious reasons.”
The cause is under investigation.
