According to a report issued by the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, the blaze clearly came in the aftermath of the prescribed burn. They documented no instances of lightning strikes in the area.
“The observed indicators, witness statements, and data collected indicate the unburned vegetative materials left within the boundary of the prescribed burn on FWC managed lands ignited on the day of the Lime Rock Road wildfire and were influenced by winds,” reads the report. “The winds caused embers from the smoldering materials in the FWC prescribed burn area to ignite unburned vegetative materials in the origin area. The abundance of vegetative fuels in the origin area ignited causing the initial three-acre fire (Florida Fire Service rangers) responded to.