Don't burn.

That's at least one fire fighter's plea to north central Florida permit holders looking to do controlled burns. 

On Wednesday afternoon, an Archer man's five-acre controlled burn turned into a 20-acre grass fire.

The flames threatened cars, trucks, farm equipment and half a dozen houses. 

"The winds shifted just right and we got enough trucks here quick enough that we got a good stop on it," said Lt. Scott Horton, with Alachua County Fire Rescue. 

"It could've got into these homes, that would've been disaster," he said.

Dry conditions are killing the grass, turning it into the equivalent of lighter fluid that just needs a spark to ignite. 

"Please don't burn right now, it's just too dry," he said.