POLK COUNTY, Fla. (WFLA) — A huge wildfire in the River Ranch area of Polk County is still burning out of control.
The Florida Forest Service says the fire has burnt 4,500 acres and is now 50% contained.
Todd Chlanda with the Florida Forest Service says firefighters did get some help from rain on Thursday.
"With the rain that we received last night, that was a great help. We had people on the fire all night. We really increased our efforts this morning," said Chlanda.
The forest service says the fire started in several areas but has now burned altogether, damaging some homes and weekend retreats.
"We have received information that some camps have been destroyed or damaged," said Chlanda. "We don't have an accurate count on that right now because we are still in suppression mode."
He says fire conditions in Central Florida are ripe right now for any small fire to grow out of control.
"We are still extremely dry, even with the precipitation that we had yesterday. For us to get out of these extreme conditions, it's going to take substantial, widespread rain, across the state," said Chlanda.
