STATE OF EMERGENCY

Palm Coast Observer
News

Deteriorating conditions in Flagler County and elsewhere prompted Gov. Rick Scott to declare a state of emergency June 13 for Florida. As of June 15, the drought index was 691 out of 800. (To see more photos of the fires in the area, click here.)

Gov. Rick Scott made a stop at the Flagler County Emergency Operations Center June 14, one day after declaring Florida in a “state of emergency.” As of 8 a.m. June 13, Florida had 333 active wildfires which have consumed approximately 115,583 acres statewide. Forty-five of those fires are larger than 100 acres.

Scott selected Flagler as the location for his press conference, in which he praised the work of the firefighters and thanked many of them personally, though he did not take a tour of the fires.

“We need to be very thankful for those who are putting their lives at risk,” Scott said.

He mentioned the Espanola fire in his official declaration. In addition to that 4,000-acre blaze, Flagler is home to about 30 other smaller fires. Flagler County Fire Chief Don Petito said the firefighters have been battling the flames for about three months. Constant shifts in wind patterns and no major rainfall expected over the next few days have Petito on edge.

“The weather conditions are constantly changing, and they’re definitely not cooperating,” Petito said. “So our plans are changing at a very rapid rate … We say we have these fires under control one minute, and the next minute they’re burning.”

That emergency declaration, however, will allow for additional resources and will turn over all operations to the state. Mississippi and Virginia are currently helping the county, and the National Guard will have a role, too.

“We’re going to monitor all these fires across the state,” Scott said. “We’ll make sure we have the state resources, the national resources to deal with that. Part of that depends on when the rain is going to come and where the winds go.”

Scott added: “People need to be very concerned. You can’t predict if we’re going to get the rain. If we do get the rain, it’s coming with lightning.”

There is at least a 30% chance of rain for Flagler County over the next five days, according to Weather.com.

Not-so-lucky No. 13
In 1985, 135 structures were lost because of fires in Flagler County. In 1998, 13 years later, 70 structures were lost, mostly in the area of Seminole Woods. Now, another 13 years later, fires are again raging; some residents have been warned of potential evacuations. No structures have been lost, as of June 14.

Officials say conditions this year are worse than they were in 1998, with more active fires on a daily basis. As more days go by without rain, the drought index continues to crawl near the top.

The County Commission declared a burn ban in December 2010. Six months later, conditions are drastically worse.

According to County Administrator Craig Coffey, if the decision to have or forgo fireworks at this year’s Fourth of July festivities had to be made today, the answer would be no.

But it’s not all gloom and doom.

“We’re a lot more prepared than we ever were,” Coffey said, citing better communication and training, larger staff, more advanced equipment and, perhaps most importantly, active staff members who were around in 1998 and worked through the evacuation.

“This isn’t their first rodeo,” Coffey said.

The county also now has more bulldozers and its own helicopter, which can help in detecting fires sooner. The chopper can also reach flames that would otherwise be inaccessible through the forest.

“We’re jumping in before events, instead of trying to contain a firestorm later,” he said.

But a firestorm might be inevitable. Seven more fires were sparked by lightning strikes June 13, and others might be smoldering underground ready to explode, including outbreaks in the Espanola and White Eagle fires.

Into the heart of the Espanola fire
Mazes of dirt roads have been cleared out by bulldozers from the state’s Division of Forestry deep into the woods near Espanola, about seven to eight miles west of Palm Coast. The smoke continued to plume into the western Flagler County sky late in the afternoon of June 11, and the winds swirled.

Visibility decreased to a few feet. In the distance, the engines of the bulldozers echoed through the gloomy forest. Much closer, trees crackled like bacon cooking in a frying pan. Then, through all the smoke, a glare of orange appeared. Flames erupted and scorched whatever vegetation was left to burn.

The sound of snapping roots took over as more trees collapsed, becoming victim to Mother Nature’s blaze. Ashes floated through the air like snow flurries.

The situation is even more creepy at night, though, according to Flagler County Emergency Operations Manager Troy Harper.

“Your vision can be impacted in the heavy smoke at night, and it gets worse with the reflection of headlights,” Harper said.

Harper looked up toward the sun; the brightness was dimmed because of the thick smoke. He said the darker smoke indicates the areas with the worst flames.

Harper took temperatures of the ground. On the cleared-out dirt, the gauge read up to 104 degrees Fahrenheit. A few steps into the woods, it reached 532 degrees. Then the LCD screen showed “unreadable.” That’s because it’s hotter than 550 degrees, Harper said.

The Florida Division of Forestry’s RED Incident Management Team took over the Espanola fire June 11. The DOF had 77 people and 67 apparatuses on the ground in Espanola, according to John Ward, an incident management public information officer.

Officials said the Espanola fire was ignited by two separate lightning strikes.

The county’s second-largest, the White Eagle fire, started about two weeks ago and was quickly contained at 50%. But containment can be fleeting. The fire has grown from 20 to about 130 acres, and though it is 80% contained, crews are battling occasional flare-ups. Officials are also concerned that winds could carry embers from the fire and start new ones. The embers can travel for miles.

“Contained fires can become uncontained, so we take these very seriously,” said Marty Senterfitt, the incident commander for the Northeast Florida Incident Management Team, at a June 11 press conference. (Public briefings will be held 11 a.m. daily at the Emergency Operations Center.)

No matter what happens, though, any reprieve from drought and lightning is up to Mother Nature. Officials are left fighting the fires and hoping for two things: rain without lightning and storms without names.