Firefighters contain brush fire in Florida

FORT PIERCE, Fla. -- Firefighters contained a brush fire that forced about 250 people to evacuate their homes, officials said.

The fire was contained late Saturday and another nearby brush fire was 70 percent contained, said Division of Forestry spokesman Mike Sawyer. The fires, which totaled about 1,000 acres, began at noon Saturday.

No injuries were reported, Sawyer said. The flames burned up to the backyards of homes and charred two storage units behind a church, Sawyer said.

The Florida Highway Patrol headquarters in Fort Pierce was also evacuated. Troopers' cars and other vehicles were moved from the parking lot as a precaution, spokesman Lt. Pembrook Burrows said.

Lightning sparked one fire but the cause of the second blaze was not immediately known. Fort Pierce is about 54 miles north of West Palm Beach on Florida's east coast.

Wildfires burned across more than 400,000 acres in Florida last year, including two that scorched 60,000 acres in north-central Florida, amid a statewide drought.