- April 24, 2024
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A planning committee has been formed. A new tanker is on fleet. Captains are getting iPads.
Since March 1, county fire workers have assisted the Florida Division of Forestry in control-burning 200 acres of woods in Flagler. But that’s not all that’s being done to prepare for the 2012 fire season, said to County Administrator Craig Coffey.
A wildfire-planning committee of about 10 workers has been meeting regularly with state officials to tweak the existing fire plan and reset water-distribution points. Staff has been meeting with the 40 to 50 major landowners in the county (those owning 500 acres or more), as well, to be granted right of trespass through their property for travel to and from hot zones. A new 3,000-gallon water tanker has been purchased and crews, from volunteers to veterans, are being retrained.
“I don’t know how to fight a fire,” Coffey said, “but I can get (our workers) resources and hold them to a higher standard.”
Three staff members are also being put through fire school, as well as learning state standards and geographic information systems, in order to offer more support if and when the going gets tough. The county’s FireFlight helicopter also makes two rounds per day, scanning the area to spot burns before they expand.
In the field, changes are being made, too, with the incorporation of new technologies.
So far, two fire captains have been given iPads, which Coffey envisions being used to relay live video from helicopters to the ground. But for now, real-time mapping is being incorporated, with aerial images showing both a fire and various vehicle locations to allow captains to more accurately track their teams.
New radios are also being brought in, which will facilitate communicating with other counties, like Clay and Putnam.
“Every year, you should be learning and doing things smarter. And we’re going to be proactive in the way we approach these things,” Coffey said. “The goal is to get better and better.”
As a “thank you” to Clay County for its support in last year’s local fires, Coffey added that a Flagler tanker, a truck and six workers were sent there recently to aid in fire work.
This year’s fire season has grim potential (See “Outlook: ‘Fires as bad as ’98’” on www.PalmCoast Observer.com), but with improved regional relations, better planning and new equipment, Coffey hopes to counteract the threat. And so far, he says, conditions are slightly better than last year, when a burn ban was in already in place by January.
“We’ve got from now basically until early June where everything’s a concern,” Coffey said.
The rainy season usually begins at the start of summer. Last year, the 5,136-acre Espanola fire wasn’t officially declared extinguished until mid-August.
