'Fire loves this weather:' Brush fire sparks concern as development continues

Firefighters in Martin County were keeping a close eye on flare ups of a weekend brush fire that burned 7 acres in the Mapp Creek Preserve in Palm City.

"The situation is it's perfect for fire. Fire loves this weather," Capt. Nick Bates of Martin County Fire Rescue said.

Danielle Leonard/WPTV

Low humidity and brisk winds have created some very dry conditions, and made brush highly flammable and flames easy to spread.

"We just want to check for hotspots make sure noting is flaring up so we can stay ahead of that," Bates said.

The fire was contained in an area that has horse trails and very limited access for fire trucks.

It is also near an area where as many as 4,000 homes are planned in a sprawling development between Interstate 95 and Florida's Turnpike.

"There's a lot of services that need to go along with that, fire, police, hospitals and schools," Dr. John Renne, director of the Center for Urban and Environmental Solutions at Florida Atlantic University, said.

"It is interesting when you take a bunch of homes and put in the middle of the woods, you don't necessarily have defendable space," Bates said.

"People can make our life easier by keeping bushes trimmed back from stuff around their house."

On Monday afternoon, the agency reported it was dealing with a mulch fire that spread from 5 acres to 61 acres in the Fox Brown Road area in Indiantown.