The Orlando Sentinel (Florida)
OCALA NATIONAL FOREST — U.S. Forest Service firefighters on Thursday continued to battle a fire in the sprawling forest caused by a bomb dropped onto the Pinecastle Bombing Range.
The fire had consumed 1,200 acres and was about 50 percent contained late Thursday, according to Mike Drayton, a fire control officer with the Forest Service.
Some damage was caused by controlled burns, which the Forest Service undertook to destroy fuel in the wildfire's path, Drayton said.
Heather Callahan, Forest Service spokeswoman, said the Pinecastle Bombing Range is the only facility on the East Coast where the military can drop live bombs. Occasionally, sparks ignite nearby brush.
Copyright 2008 Sentinel Communications Co.
