PALM BAY, Fla. – Palm Bay firefighters responded to a brush fire Saturday afternoon at a solar farm in the southern end of the city, according to a fire department spokesperson.
The fire was reported just before 1 p.m. along Centerlane Road at the FPL Palm Bay Solar Energy Center, the spokesperson told News 6, adding at the time that it would likely be challenging to deal with given the amount of electrical equipment there.
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Crews arrived to a 68-acre fire that had grown to around 70 acres by the time it was put out about seven and a half hours later, the fire department said in an update Sunday.
The solar equipment indeed kept crews from getting a quick handle of the creeping flames, according to the update. Crews kept to chasing down hot spots which spawned new fires as variable winds kept fueling them, what the update conveys made the fire “extremely challenging to contain.” The fire was deemed under control by 6:15 p.m. and fully extinguished by around 8:30 p.m.
In all, other than heat and fire damage to some of the solar equipment, no other property was damaged or lost, according to the fire department.
The cause of the fire was still under investigation at the time of this report. Several factors are being considered, the update states.
The Florida Forest Service responded to the fire as well, the department said.
News 6 has reached out to FPL for comment.
There is currently a burn ban in Palm Bay due to worsening drought conditions. Saturday’s brush fire follows others in Palm Bay reported as recently as Thursday, when crews responded to a fast-moving fire in “The Compound.”
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