Pasco Fire and emergency management officials were forced to shift most of their resources late Wednesday afternoon to a fast-moving brush fire in Hudson.
Pasco Fire Rescue and Florida Forest Service have contained 100 percent of the "south wind fire" along Old Dixie Highway/New York Ave.
It kicked up around 2 p.m. with 6 acres burning, but quickly tripled in size reaching 18 acres.
Neighbors in the area did not need much convincing to leave.
"He says the fire is going to be here in about 15 minutes," recalled Susan Sutherland. "I can't make you go but I demand for your safety that you guys leave."
Florida Forest Service made more than 30 water drops from their helicopter each containing 300 gallons of water per drop.
The fire jumped across a residential street and narrowly missed several homes.
A lot of the damage was in Linda Shields' backyard.
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VIDEO: Lightning strike can cause wildfire up to four days later
At least two fires are believed to have started by lightning strikes in Pasco County.
Fire mitigation specialists with the Florida Fire Service say a lightning strike can spark a fire within one hour or it can smolder below the surface for up to four days before turning into a wildfire. The National Weather Service is updating fire officials every hour on wind conditions, humidity and when smoke is expected to disappear.
"I had a lot of prayer warriors and they were praying for me and my family," said Shields.
In her backyard alone, a massive shed that used to house a family business was charred to its core. The fire also destroyed a friend's boat, an old pickup truck and two semi-trailers in that were gutted.
Shields is just thankful her home and everything inside was spared.
"Honestly, I asked God to take over and I asked him to watch over and that's exactly what he did," said Shields.
Get more information on the burn ban here.
More information from Pasco County Fire Rescue can be found here.
