- April 24, 2024
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Windy conditions late Saturday afternoon didn’t make the fight against the wildfires in Flagler County any easier for firefighters.
Increasingly dry conditions with little rain in the forecast have officials worried as the drought index crawled up to 696. The highest the drought index goes is 800 — which is dubbed “desert-like conditions.”
The Espanola fire is at 2,800 acres as of an11 a.m. press conference at the Emergency Operations Center. A meeting will take place at 11 a.m. seven days a week and is open to the public to provide more information on the status of fires.
The Florida Division of Forestry’s “RED” Incident Management Team has taken over the Espanola fire as of June 11. The DOF had 77 people on the ground at the Espanola fire along with 67 apparatuses.
Marty Senterfitt, the incident commander for the Northeast Florida Incident Management Team, said there are a lot of counties suffering from the dry conditions.
“It’s going to take a lot of help from Mother Nature to put (the fires) out,” Senterfitt said.
The Dog Pen fire broke out this afternoon, too, and grew to about 10 acres. However, John Ward, a public information officer brought in from Clay County, said that fire was quickly contained and is being monitored by suppression crews.
The White Eagle fire continues to have occasional flare-ups and is about 150 acres in size, but that includes approximately 30 acres that was back-burned by firefighters earlier in the week, according to Ward. This fire is about 25% contained, but Ward said it's important for residents to be cognizant of the situation.
Also, on Friday evening, two smaller fires broke out. One was in the area of County Road 205 and the Espanola Cemetery. The second was in the area of County Roads 305 and 2006. Both fires were small in size and are being monitored strictly.
Updates will be sent out daily at 11 a.m. and 5 p.m. from the Emergency Operations Center.
For all previous fire coverage, click here.
For a map of the fires currently burning in Flagler County, click here.
