If you read my post Smoke From A Not So Distant Fire post this week you know all about our (Volusia and Flagler Counties) now named "Airport Fire". I updated that post last night with the following:
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.
As of today's updated Daytona Beach News Journal reports, the Airport Road fire, now 1 week and 1 day old, is 50% contained and the fire officials are optimistic that the fire "will not flare up again". That is such good news for folks living in the Rima Ridge and Hunters Ridge subdivisions. I'm sure they are still packed and ready for evacuations just in case. Yesterdays report said they should be, anything could happen.
Boy when I left the house this morning you sure could have fooled me! I thought that baby had flared back up over night, my heart was in my stomach.
Come, take a ride with me to the office....
Two blocks east of our house 12 miles ESE of the fire at 1015am
9 Miles SE of the Airport Road Fire
Don't you love the traffic? This is about how it is at the normal drive time too!
The sun came out when I hit my T where I turn left and head south. If I were to go north I could get some great up close shots for you but then I would have been even later for work! This is about 7 miles from the Airport Road Fire and 7 miles from the C21 Sundance Office.
Almost there, about 10 miles away from the fire now, a little clearer.
Welcome to Daytona International Speedway! Normally you can see it a lot better then this when you go by! The Back stretch seating area, there is some sort of box seating there, you can barely make it out.
Not bad huh? I took this over my left shoulder as I drove by all the while watching the road in front of me. I took 4 shots, 3 came out ok!
12 miles from the fire..
Final leg
13 miles away from our smoldering fire. The smell isn't quite as bad or I'm just getting used to it.
Here we are! Hey, who parked their van out front? Its not as nearly bad here, 14 miles away... Well I need to get inside and see what's going on.
Hope you enjoyed the ride!
Ok, so I get inside and read the updated Daytona News Journal and find out that all this smoke? It's not from the Airport Road Fire! This smoke we are seeing is coming from a 16,000 wildfire in Bradford County, it is only 5% contained. I don't know where Bradford county is yet, but if any of you know me as well as I think you do, you can bet I'm going to get a wall map of Fl and start tracking these puppies. I want to know how large, how long, how they started, etc... Meanwhile, the fire that has been burning for almost 4 weeks in GA has jumped the state line, now it is also in FL. 
Collier County is still fighting a 13,000 fire and it is only 25% contained. I think I had a few Active Rainers check in from down there on my last fire blog. Stay safe down there guys!
Lake County still has 2 fires, the smaller of the two at 881 acres is 65% contained, the larger one, 1,600 acres is only 5% contained and is threatening homes.
State wide there are currently 230 fires burning. On Sunday that total was 160.
Lets forget about fireworks and campfires, be more careful with lit cigarettes bbqs and ATV's, please?
In Los Angeles, not sure how you could have missed it, but they've got a real mess there with that wildfire. It's smack in the middle of the city in Griffith Park. If all we have to do is put up with a little smoke we're fortunate!
We do have warnings out for people with respiratory problems. They need to stay inside. Schools are keeping kids inside too.
On the brighter side, we have the first named storm of Hurricane Season knocking on our door! It's a sub-tropical system named Andrea. We're starting to see rain from her now, YAY! She could drop significant rain on us tomorrow. The down side is she's beating up our beaches. Good with the bad... good with the bad.
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