Two fires burning Thursday evening in Jackson County near St. Martin prompted the evacuation of over a dozen homes in the area, authorities said.
One fire is burning near the Talla Pointe subdivision off Old Fort Bayou Road, Jackson County Sheriff John Ledbetter said. Affected areas include Osprey and Brookstone Drive. Another fire burning in the Windsor Park area, south of Talla Pointe, also threatened homes, Jackson County Emergency Manager Earl Etheridge said.
Both fires appeared to start dying down just after 6 p.m., though both still had several “hotspots,” Etheridge said. No homes burned in either fire, but several fences appeared damaged, he said.
Thirty homes were in danger when the fire near Talla Pointe started growing earlier Thursday evening, said Shannon Coker, communications director for the Mississippi Forestry Commission. She said 30 acres had burned as of 5 p.m.
A third fire burned 25 acres near D’Iberville on Thursday and is 50 percent contained, Coker said at 5:30 p.m. That fire did not appear to threaten any structures, she said.
It is unclear what percent of the Jackson County fires are contained. Coker said fire crews prioritized protecting the houses.
Wind appeared to be worsen the flames Thursday afternoon, Ledbetter said. He said authorities on scene tried to keep traffic north of the fire and blocked several roads in the area.
Ashlee Likens, who lives across the bayou from Talla Pointe, said her daughter got off the bus from school Thursday afternoon and told her she was worried that houses were catching on fire.
“All I saw was this huge thing of smoke,” Likens said. She said she drove her daughter to her mother’s house, then returned to the neighborhood to help people evacuate to St. Martin High School.
She said she witnessed several people spraying water hoses on their roofs and lawns while other family members loaded cars and moved pets. One problem was that so many cars were driving past the area to glimpse the fire that traffic made it more difficult for some residents to get out, she said.
“It’s a terrible sight,” she said. “It’s something you think you would only see in the movies.”
This is a developing story and will be updated.
Sun Herald editor Tim Thorsen contributed reporting.
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