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JAMES THORNERLightning sparked a brush fire that consumed between 65 and 80 acres of Wiregrass Ranch, but left nearby Meadow Pointe homes untouched.
WESLEY CHAPEL - As a brush fire raged toward their rooftops Friday afternoon, swallowing swaths of dry, brittle pasture grass, dozens of Meadow Pointe residents were forced to flee their homes.
But all ended well for the threatened homeowners in Meadow Pointe's Longleaf and Wrencrest villages.
The lightning bolt that started the blaze on the adjoining Wiregrass Ranch was part of a storm that eventually dumped rain on embers already weakened by firefighters' frontal attack.
But for almost an hour Friday afternoon, the fire, fed by wind in advance of the storm, took a worrying turn toward homes along Emmett's Court and Grenville Court.
Tania Ganauser peered anxiously at flames once a quarter-mile away but now racing up tree trunks close to her two-story Wrencrest house. Ashes fluttered over her roof like blackened butterflies.
Earlier, after the fire began about 1 p.m., deputies had told her to evacuate. Grabbing her insurance policy and collectible coins, she complied.
"The thunder was like an explosion. Then I saw the smoke and called 911. I just watched the fire grow from there," Ganauser said as she paced Mansfield Boulevard.
Pasco County firefighters didn't battle the blaze alone. Hillsborough County and Tampa firefighters lent their weight against a fire that burned between 65 and 80 acres of pasture.
So did a helicopter that filled a dangling bucket from ponds and showered water on the brush fire. Forestry officials brought in bulldozers.
"The wind changed for us a couple of times, and the fire came on top of those homes," Pasco battalion Chief Cynthia Holland O'Neal said.
Neighbors complained about what they considered Pasco firefighters' slow response time. The call came over at 1:01 p.m., and the first truck from the Meadow Pointe fire station arrived at 1:17 p.m.
Neighbors also pointed to a fire hydrant, unused by firefighters, about 100 feet from the leading edge of the fire. O'Neal said one hydrant, in fact, was turned off.
But by 2:47 p.m., one soot-blackened Pasco firefighter was confident enough to announce, "We got it." Ten minutes later the skies opened.
The blackened stumps hissed. Ashes washed into the gutters. Ganauser and her neighbors relaxed and cracked jokes. Drifting from the burned ranch, the spicy smell of pine sap filled the air.