- April 24, 2024
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A wildfire at the Flagler-Volusia line caused hundreds of evacuations and shut down a five-mile stretch of Interstate 95 for about seven hours on Saturday, causing major traffic delays.
The fire broke out around 10 a.m. Saturday, on Durrance Lane, in Flagler County. The fire quickly spread into Ormond Beach, in Volusia County. Strong, unpredictable winds fueled the fire, and within hours, it blossomed from a 50-acre brush fire to a wildfire that spread across 1,118 acres. Thanks to fire crews, as of Monday afternoon, the fire was was 95% contained.
Flagler County Fire Rescue commanded the fire efforts with the help of crews from Palm Coast, Volusia County, Ormond Beach, Deltona, Orange City and the Florida Forest Service.
In total, about 130 firefighters were on the ground Monday morning. Flagler committed five attack trucks, one engine and two wood trucks Saturday.
Two helicopters — Flagler’s FireFlight and Volusia’s Air One — dumped water on the fire from the air for most of Saturday.
About 300 homes were evacuated in the Ormond Beach area Saturday evening, but all mandatory evacuations were lifted by Sunday.
Officials first believed the fire was nonaggressive and containable, but conditions deteriorated quickly, and wind gusts of 40 mph on Saturday spread the fire, according to Flagler County Fire Rescue Chief Don Petito.
The Keetch Byram Drought Index was at 430, or moderate, as of Monday morning. Petito said that was average, though he said some places in the county are 521 on the scale, which tops out at 800. The area of the Durrance Fire was in the 500s.
“We are sending the message to be careful with campfires, warming fires and cooking fire,” Petito said. “Stay clear of flammable vegetation when using fire outdoors. Don’t dump hot coals in wooded areas. Clear flammable brush from around the house and clean your gutters.”
Petito said firefighters were on the ground Monday morning with GPS units to track the exact size of the fire.
“The situation right now is we’ve got a lot of vegetation that bloomed early because of the warm winter that we had, and it’s just going to create more fuel for the fires sooner than what we’ve had,” Petito said. “We’re gearing up for a pretty busy season — especially after seeing what we saw Saturday.”
For full coverage, including video from Saturday, go to www.PalmCoastObserver.com.
— Matt Mencarini contributed to this report.
