- April 19, 2024
-
-
Loading
Loading
Flagler County’s government is preparing to clear out trees and underbrush in areas of the county that are most vulnerable to wildfires.
The three areas the county intends to target first are the Bulow Woods area, Belle Terre south and the Lehigh Trail trailhead area, according to a county staff presentation during the County Commission’s Dec. 17 workshop.
Speaking before the commission, Public Lands and Natural Resources Manager Tim Telfer noted that the county had seen large wildfires in the past: In 1985, when a fire destroyed 131 homes, damaged 200 and burned 25,000 acres; in 1998, when a fire destroyed 71 homes, damaged hundreds more, burned 82,000 acres and led to the evacuation of the county’s population of 45,000; and most recently in 2011, when a fire in Espanola burned 5,100 acres.
These fires were so hot, Telfer said, that there were reports that drapes inside homes were bursting into flame from radiant heat as the fires approached.
After storm surge from Hurricane Matthew killed vegetation in large swaths of the barrier island, the Florida Forest Service moved in with bulldozers and cut fire lines in 30-foot-wide strips — about 4.5 acres’ worth — and the county removed 568 trees.
Now, the county has hired a new land management technician, Michael Orlando, to handle the work of creating new fire breaks. The county expects to spend up to a total of $119, 095 — of which $89, 321 would be federal Hazard Mitigation Grant Program money — on the work, but will likely spend less, Telfer said.
The major three drivers of wildfires are topography, weather and fuels, Telfer said, and fuel is the variable the county has some control over.
