Eastpoint Fire Caused By State Contracted Prescribed Burn
June 27th, 2018 by Jake Stofan
36 homes and more than 800 acres of land in Eastpoint, Florida went up in flames Sunday.
The cause of that fire has now been identified as a prescribed burn that got out of hand.
“The investigation itself is not formally closed at this point and when it becomes closed there will be additional details available,” said Jennifer Meale with the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services.
The burn was conducted by Wildlands Fire Service Inc, a private company contracted by the state’s Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
The burn was part of a nearly $60,000 contract.
So far the state has paid the company more than $25,000.
Many of the Eastpoint residents who lost their homes didn’t have insurance, meaning compensation will likely have to come from legal action against the FWC and the company overseeing the burn.
Melissa Lee’s daughter’s home was damaged in the fire, but is still standing.
She says while a suit is possible, she hopes it doesn’t have to come to a legal battle.
“Hopefully they’ll do the right thing and just come on out and say, hey we did this, we’re going to take care of you,” said Lee.
State Senator Bill Montford represents Eastpoint, he agrees the state needs to do what it can to help, regardless of any potential suits.
“The people who have been harmed cannot wait for the court system to move,” said Montford. “We have people without homes, we have people without food. The state should step up to do everything we can possible to help these people.”
We reached out to Wildlands Fire Service, but did not hear back in time for this story.
The Department of Agriculture’s full report on the fire hasn’t been released yet, as the agency is also in the process of reaching out to the company contracted to conduct the burn.
Shortly before the DOA announced the cause of the fire FWC ordered all prescribed burns in the state be halted.
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