{"id":239058,"date":"2026-04-20T15:53:21","date_gmt":"2026-04-20T15:53:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/239058\/"},"modified":"2026-04-20T15:53:21","modified_gmt":"2026-04-20T15:53:21","slug":"large-wildfires-merging-near-clay-putnam-county-line-prompt-evacuations-amtrak-changes-amid-dry-windy-conditions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/239058\/","title":{"rendered":"Large wildfires merging near Clay-Putnam County line prompt evacuations, Amtrak changes amid dry, windy conditions"},"content":{"rendered":"

Two fast-moving brush fires burning near the Clay\u2013Putnam County line<\/a> are growing into a single large fire burning more than 3,000 acres, threatening structures and forcing voluntary evacuations, according to Florida Forestry Service spokesperson Dr. Ludie Bond.<\/p>\n

The larger fire in Clay County has burned up to 1,700 acres and remains uncontained, while the second fire nearby in Putnam County, north of Bostwick and east of US 17, is about 1,000 acres and only 5% contained as of Monday morning.<\/p>\n

WATCH: Full interview with Bond on The Morning Show<\/p>\n

Even though the fire is 1 mile east of US 17, smoke signs are still required on US 17 because of smoke drifting that way, officials said.<\/p>\n

Bond said the fires have been dubbed the Railroad Complex Fire because a complex involves multiple fires being worked by the same crews.<\/p>\n

Clay County officials say sparks from a train likely started the fire near County Road 209 and Maranda Drive.<\/p>\n

\u201cAmtrak has suspended all of their activity along the railroad track until these fires are brought under control,\u201d Bond said in an interview on The Morning Show.<\/p>\n

Officials say no homes have been damaged, but dry, windy conditions are making this a difficult fight, and firefighters might need to shut down Decoy Road later today.<\/p>\n

Bond said the part of the danger is that the fires are not only happening in heavily wooded, remote areas, but are also in people\u2019s backyards.<\/p>\n

Most of Northeast Florida is under a red flag warning<\/a> as strong winds, warm temperatures and dry conditions increase the chance of fires.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe winds are certainly an issue today. Gusts could be up to 30 mph,\u201d Bond said.<\/p>\n

She said to expect a continued threat to structures over the next 24 to 48 hours because of the strong winds.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople should not let their guard down,\u201d Bond said. \u201cNow is the time to prepare in case you get the notice to evacuate.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bond urged families to have a plan on where to go and how to take care of their pets.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou don\u2019t want to wait until you get that phone call or knock on the door to start getting things ready to evacuate,\u201d she said. \u201cYou need to be ready now.\u201d<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t spark a new fire<\/p>\n

Bond said it will be difficult for firefighters to keep the fires in the containment lines, and she expects to see growth on the fires because of the windy conditions.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd then any new starts that happen today have the potential to spread extremely rapidly,\u201d Bond said. \u201cThere are so many different types of outdoor activities that are starting fires right now.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bond said cooking outdoors with charcoal could throw a spark.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe actually had a fire being started by a pig roast,\u201d she said. \u201cThere are things that people are doing with their outdoor activities that they may not realize could actually throw a spark and start a fire.\u201d<\/p>\n

She also warned that mowing can be dangerous if the lawnmower strikes a rock and sparks a fire, dragging chains from trailer hitches could spark grass along the road and parking on dry grass should be avoided.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith conditions so dry and extreme and the fire behavior that we\u2019re seeing, people need to use extreme caution,\u201d Bond said. \u201cWe are seeing extremely unusual but very erratic fire behavior right now.\u201d<\/p>\n

Clay County is under a burn ban, and officials reminded residents to also avoid burning any debris or disposing of cigarettes on the ground.<\/p>\n

Clay officials said residents are asked not to fly personal drones in restricted air spaces.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe will have to pull air resources if drones are spotted, and this will affect emergency operations,\u201d Chase said.<\/p>\n

Evacuations<\/p>\n

The Florida Forest Service says crews responded shortly after 5:30 p.m. Sunday to the fire in Clay County, south of Green Cove Springs.<\/p>\n

Clay officials urged community members in Keystone Heights and surrounding areas in Alachua and Putnam counties to stay indoors.<\/p>\n

Florida Forest Service PIO Robert Chase said now is the time to make sure you are prepared for an emergency.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou really need to ask yourself, \u2018Are you wildfire ready?\u2019\u201d he said. \u201cBe mindful.\u201d<\/p>\n

Voluntary evacuations are underway for residents living off Varney Road and Woodward Lane in Green Cove Springs. The evacuation center is Shiloh Baptist Church at 1055 CR 226, according to county officials.<\/p>\n

The Jacksonville Equestrian Center has offered to take in animals needing to evacuate because of the fires for $25 a night to cover the cost of stripping the stalls and two bags of shavings.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe will work with you anyway we can as we understand this is an emergency situation,\u201d the center posted.<\/p>\n

Crews from Jacksonville, St. Johns and Putnam assisted in fighting the fire. Flight crews from Chattanooga completed four drops to protect structures in the area. <\/p>\n

There are no reports of any structures damaged yet, but officials say they are threatened, including buildings in the area of Eagle Creek and West Tocoi.<\/p>\n

Clay County Fire Chief Lorin Mock says unfavorable weather conditions will likely make the response to this fire a multi-day event.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith the really low humidity that is forecast for the next couple of days, we are going to have a hard time working it and getting control,\u201d Mock said.<\/p>\n

Copyright 2026 by WJXT News4JAX – All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Two fast-moving brush fires burning near the Clay\u2013Putnam County line are growing into a single large fire burning…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":239059,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[3487,855,116,118,117,34927,69605],"class_list":["post-239058","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-jacksonville","tag-clay-county","tag-fire","tag-jacksonville","tag-jacksonville-headlines","tag-jacksonville-news","tag-putnam-county","tag-wildfire"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/239058","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=239058"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/239058\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/239059"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=239058"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=239058"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=239058"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}