A brush fire in Hawthorne has spread more than 100 acres as of late afternoon Monday. No injuries or structural damages have been reported.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The fire, located near Lochloosa Lake, was reported around 1:30 p.m., according to Ludie Bond, a spokesperson for the Florida Forest Service. Alachua County Fire Rescue has not ordered evacuations, but it has contacted residents within a 3-mile radius of the fire.<\/p>\n
No structures have been impacted by the fire, but a major roadway is affected.<\/p>\n
The Alachua County Sheriff’s Office has shut down County Road 325 between County Road 346 and Southeast 152nd Avenue, according to the Waccasassa Forestry Center\u2019s Facebook page<\/a>.<\/p>\n As of 2:55 p.m., the fire has grown to more than 100 acres, per the Waccasassa Forestry Center\u2019s Facebook page. Bond said she anticipates the fire affecting \u201cmore than several hundred acres.\u201d<\/p>\n The cause of the fire remains unknown, though Bond said recent weather may have had an impact.<\/p>\n Lightning strikes throughout North Central Florida on Saturday caused the Florida Forest Service to anticipate potential fires, Bond said.<\/p>\n The fire is one of more than 1,800 reported wildfires<\/a> in Florida this year, according to the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. Alachua County has seen a rare uptick amid the drought. A fire in the county\u2019s Balu Forest<\/a> spread as far as 400 acres April 15, and one on North Main Street <\/a>\u00a0prompted neighborhood evacuations less than a week later.<\/p>\n