JACKSONVILLE, Fla. \u2014 Specialized wildfire teams from the Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department (JFRD) have deployed to the front lines of the Railroad Fire, a massive blaze currently tearing through southern Clay and northern Putnam counties. <\/p>\n
The fire, which is believed to have been sparked by a passing Amtrak train over the weekend, has scorched 4,413 acres. While it began as two separate fires, the blazes eventually merged into one large-scale emergency. As of the latest reports, the fire is approximately 65% contained. <\/p>\n
>>> STREAM ACTION NEWS JAX LIVE <<<<\/a><\/p>\n JFRD crews were dispatched Tuesday following a request for regional assistance. The deployment includes two brush trucks, each staffed by two personnel, and a specialized unit dedicated to maintaining radio communications for ground crews. <\/p>\n \u201cWe have our most highly specialized people out there,\u201d said Austin Gambill, JFRD Deputy Division Chief of Operations. \u201cNot only are they experts in wildland firefighting, but they are also specialized in skid steer operations and heavy equipment.\u201d <\/p>\n The crews are currently working grueling 12-hour shifts to combat the blaze. Gambill said the goal is to \u201cadd more manpower to cover as much ground as possible.\u201d <\/p>\n [DOWNLOAD: Free Action News Jax app for alerts as news breaks<\/a>]<\/p>\n While JFRD is answering the call for help beyond Duval County, officials stressed that local safety remains the priority. Duval County is currently under a burn ban warning due to extreme drought conditions, but Chief Gambill reassured residents that Jacksonville remains fully protected. <\/p>\n \u201cWe are part of a large system of public service. We\u2019re here to protect everybody,\u201d Gambill said. \u201cOur priority is Jacksonville, but when our neighbors and our friends call for help, we\u2019re there to help them.\u201d <\/p>\n The mission may not be over soon. JFRD indicated they have received a request of an \u201cextended duration\u201d for their deployment as containment efforts continue. <\/p>\n [SIGN UP: Action News Jax Daily Headlines Newsletter<\/a>] <\/p>\n Click here<\/a> to download the free Action News Jax news and weather apps, click here<\/a> to download the Action News Jax Now app for your smart TV and click here<\/a> to stream Action News Jax live.<\/p>\n Action News Jax Top Stories<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"JACKSONVILLE, Fla. \u2014 Specialized wildfire teams from the Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department (JFRD) have deployed to the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":245443,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[643,51241,107520,34052,639,116,118,117,50955,6489,12814,634,17693,108027,26100,108028],"class_list":{"0":"post-245442","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-jacksonville","8":"tag-action_news_jack","9":"tag-amtrak","10":"tag-brantley_county","11":"tag-clay","12":"tag-duval_county","13":"tag-jacksonville","14":"tag-jacksonville-headlines","15":"tag-jacksonville-news","16":"tag-jessica_salina","17":"tag-jessica_salinas","18":"tag-jfrd","19":"tag-local","20":"tag-mike","21":"tag-northern_putnam_county","22":"tag-putnam_county","23":"tag-southern_clay_county"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/245442","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=245442"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/245442\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/245443"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=245442"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=245442"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=245442"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}