Firefighters contain small blaze on Hilltop Road

South Walton firefighters responded to a small woods fire near Hilltop Drive in the Beach Highlands area of Santa Rosa Beach around noon on Wednesday.

Lori Dixon, a resident on Hilltop Drive, said she had just returned from the grocery store when she began smelling smoke. Upon investigation she saw flames shooting up from the area behind her house and immediately called 911.

Firefighters were able to extinguish the flames within 30 minutes but not without sending a plume of water soaring above the tree line, attracting attention from neighbors who quickly gathered near the Dixon house.

“This is so scary,” said Dixon.

The area was the site of a large brush fire in 2001.

The fire started in an area under development on Woodward Drive. No structures were damaged and the fire was confined to only a few acres.