Fourteen miles from the Century 21 Sundance Pelican Bay office and twelve miles from where Steve and I live there is a wildfire burning on the border of the Volusia and Flagler County lines.
(Graphic courtesy of the Daytona News Journal)
The smoke from the fire can cover our county depending on the wind. On Thursday and Friday it was so thick it burned our eyes, we could smell and taste it fourteen miles away. In the afternoon the seabreeze picked up and blew the smoke away.
Friday afternoon Governor Charlie Christ declared a State of Emergency which allows the National Guard to come in and assist in the fire fighting efforts, it also calls home the fire fighters who have been in Georgia helping fight the huge blaze there on the border of the Georgia and Florida state lines that has claimed over 65,000 acres.
The fire started on Tuesday, it was 100 acres. By Wednesday it had grown to 1,500 acres, Friday 3,500 acres but no homes were in danger. As of this morning it has burned 5,500 acres and is only 40% contained. Fire officials believe some kind of vehicle started this fire, I know people like to like to go 4 wheeling out there, but to be fair it could have been any type of vehicle.
Right now it is in a swampy area which is hindering efforts to fight it. Because of the many downed trees from our 2004 hurricanes and the drought conditions of this year it has plenty of fuel. The heavy equipment can not get in to the area due to the way the swamps dry out on top but stay wet below the dry ground.
We have a front due to come through today with a change in the wind direction, that is expected to blow the fire south towards a populated area on either side of SR40. The sheriff is now telling people to pack their belongings and prepare to be evacuated.
While reading the paper yesterday I got a little fired up, the headline on one story read, Blaze Prompts Burn Ban. Ok, we now have this huge fire so only now Flagler County decides to place a burn ban, why didn't they do this a month ago? Back on March 25th I wrote Is Volusia County Under A Burn Ban? I Think We Should Be.. Please don't tell me I'm smarter then some of our elected officials. I still don't know if Volusia County has a burn ban in place or not, (I hope they do) but I'm doing my part not to start a fire.
We have Memorial Day Weekend coming up, a huge camping weekend here in Florida, I hope everyone is extra careful this year and pays attention the the park rules and rangers and enjoys their camping holiday. Lets make it a safe one for everyone, ok?
Here are the statistics of our fire as of today courtesy of the Daytona News Journal
Acres: 5,500
Contained: 40 percent
Firefighters: 180
Bulldozers: 33
Fire engines: 20
Aircraft: 5
Total fires statewide: 160 on 12,460 acres
(Friday our fires were 123 statewide what does that tell you?)
UPDATE 5/8/2007
OUR AIRPORT ROAD FIRE IS ONLY SMOKING AS OF TODAY 5/8 DESPITE OUR HIGH WINDS. FIREFIGHTERS SET 300 SURROUNDING ACRES ON A CONTROLED BURN (DARING MOVE CONSIDERING THE WINDS) AND HAVE SOMEHOW MANAGED TO CONTAIN IT. THE FIRE IS NOT OFFICIALLY OUT AND CAN SPARK UP AGAIN BUT OFFICIALS ARE OPTIMISTIC. AS OF SATURDAY THE FIRE CONSUMED 6,500 ACRES PLUS THE EXTRA 300 ACRES THE FIRE FIGHTERS SET. NO MORE HAS BEEN BURNED SINCE SATURDAY'S RAIN.
RESIDENTS IN THE AREA ARE FEEDING THE FIREFIGHTERS THAT WERE IN THEIR NEIGHBORHOODS AS A WAY OF THANKING THEM FOR KEEPING THEIR HOMES AND FARMS SAFE.
I'VE ALSO JUST LEARNED OF A BIGGER FIRE NEAR THE CITY OF WALDO THAT IS IN 3 COUNTIES, ALACHUA, BRADFORD AND CLAY AND HAS CONSUMED OVER 16,000 ACRES. THIS MAY BE THE SMOKE THAT THE FOLKS IN OCALA ARE EXPERIENCING.
LAKE COUNTY HAS 2 SMALLER WILD FIRES, 1 1,600 ACRES, THE OTHER 850 ACRES.
I PRAY EVERYONE IS SAFE IN THOSE AREAS.
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