Marsh fires close A1A and jeopardize US-1

At a joint press conference called yesterday by the St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office, St. Johns County Fire Rescue and the Division of Forestry, Historic City News learned that units responded to a brush fire in the 2900 block of South Ponte Vedra Boulevard early Thursday afternoon.

Upon arrival crews found a brush fire burning on both the East and West side of the roadway.

The fire was burning in the area of Guana State Park — no structures were in danger.

The fire was contained in approximately 1.5 hours. Due to the location of the fire and the limited roadway access, South Ponte Vedra Boulevard was closed for the duration of the incident.

The fire burned approximately 2 acres of brush area in the State Park.

As the Guana fire was being extinguished, a second report came in concerning a fire in the area of North River Drive in the Palencia neighborhood. Fire Rescue and Forestry crews responded and found a working brush fire burning on a small unoccupied island in the marsh area.

Due to the location of the fire, crews could not make access; so they monitored the area until the fire extinguished itself.

There were no injuries reported in either incident.

The cause of both fires is under investigation.

Photo credits: © 2011 Historic City News staff photographer