Just after 11 am Monday, a wildfire broke out in charlotte county forcing 40 families to evacuate their homes.
“They thought our house was burning down, so I was quite hysterical,” said neighbor Debbie Baker.
“I mean your kind of at the mercy of nature, ” said neighbor Nicole Christen-Husz.
Firefighters and other first responders worked tirelessly to contain the flames as they spread throughout the Placida Sands community.
“The first part of this fire everybody was chasing it basically trying to stop it, ”said Patrick Mahoney of the Florida Forest Service.
Nearly 7 hours later families were given the all-clear to enter back into the community and assess the damage.
“I was thinking my house was burning down,” said Debbie Baker.