Sheriff’s office says LaBelle fire extinguished, evacuations lifted

Hendry County Sheriff’s Office and other local agencies responded to a fire that caused multiple explosions at a commercial drilling facility in LaBelle Friday night.

According to the HCSO Facebook post, Hendry County deputies were on scene along the 900 block of South Elm Street at Centerline Directional Drilling, where there was a reported fire with multiple explosions.

UPDATE: HCSO says fire crews have extinguished the structure fire at the drilling company facility, and the fire chief has lifted the evacuation due to the fire. Residents who evacuated are told they may return to their homes.

The roadway between East Lincoln and East Cowboy Way is closed.

First responders are making preparations to leave the scene.

Evacuations were made in the area of Elm Street and East Cowboy Way, and have been lifted. Anyone within a half-mile radius of the drilling facility was originally asked to evacuate the area until it was safe to return.

FPL crews also responded to the scene to shut down the power grid in that area while the fire was active. FPL reports all power is restored to customers with one customer without power, likely to be the drilling company. See the FPL map for more information on the area outage.

Alva Fire Control and Rescue Service District and LaBelle Fire Department responded to the fire and worked together to put it out.

There are no reported injuries due to the fire or explosions.