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Alafia blaze under control, but phosphate pits challenge firefighters

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TBO.com

Published: November 9, 2009

Firefighters have contained a brush fire in the Alafia River area, even though they were stymied by the unreclaimed phosphate mine landscape of steep hills and deep gullies.

Hillsborough County Fire Rescue and Florida Division of Forestry firefighters remain on the scene this morning. On Sunday, the fire torched more than 500 acres of difficult-to-access terrain in the Alafia River State Park.

"There were two separate fires about a half-mile apart, all in the state park area," Fire Rescue spokesman Ray Yeakley said this morning. "It is 100 percent contained right now, though there will still be some smoldering."

Efforts were hampered by the deep phosphate pits left by a mine that operated in the area years ago.

"The unreclaimed land has unique topography that offers some of the most radical elevation changes in Florida," said a fire rescue news release issued Sunday night.

No structures were in danger and overnight campers were not in harm's way, Yeakley said. No one was injured.

Rainy weather approaching the Tampa Bay area, expected today and Tuesday, will help douse the hot spots, he said.

Editor's note: The fire was on unreclaimed phosphate land. A previous version of this story stated otherwise.

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