Investigation Continues Into Wildfire That Closed I-10

March 8, 2012

The cause of two fires that closed the I-10 bridge over Escambia Bay remains under investigation.

Smoke from the wildfires prompted the complete closure of the bridge Tuesday night and Wednesday morning, snarling traffic across a large portion of Pensacola and even leading to backups on Quintette Road between Pace in Santa Rosa County and Molino in Escambia County.

“There were no prescribed fires or lightning strikes in the area at the time of the blaze, said Joe Zwierzchowski, spokesperson for the Florida Forest Service. “We are looking into this as a human caused fire.”

In the meantime, officials are discouraging outdoor burning.

“The Florida Forest Service is urging extreme caution in regard to outdoor burning and would ask that residents refrain from burning yard debris at this time. The fact that the area of I-10 at Avalon Blvd. received significant rain over this past weekend and three days later a wildfire erupts, shows how fire prone our ecosystem is and quickly a small fire can turn into a large fire,” Zwierzchowski added.

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Written by William Reynolds · Filed Under News