• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
MENUMENU
MENUMENU
  • Home
  • About
    • Contact Us
    • FlaglerLive Board of Directors
    • Comment Policy
    • Mission Statement
    • Our Values
  • Live Calendar
  • Submit Obituary
  • Submit an Event
  • Support FlaglerLive
  • Advertise on FlaglerLive (386) 503-3808
  • Search Results

FlaglerLive

No Bull, no Fluff, No Smudges

MENUMENU
  • Flagler
    • Flagler County Commission
    • Beverly Beach
    • Economic Development Council
    • Flagler History
    • Mondex/Daytona North
    • The Hammock
    • Tourist Development Council
  • Palm Coast
    • Palm Coast City Council
    • Palm Coast Crime
  • Bunnell
    • Bunnell City Commission
    • Bunnell Crime
  • Flagler Beach
    • Flagler Beach City Commission
    • Flagler Beach Crime
  • Cops/Courts
    • Circuit & County Court
    • Florida Supreme Court
    • Federal Courts
    • Flagler 911
    • Fire House
    • Flagler County Sheriff
    • Flagler Jail Bookings
    • Traffic Accidents
  • Rights & Liberties
    • Fourth Amendment
    • First Amendment
    • Privacy
    • Second Amendment
    • Seventh Amendment
    • Sixth Amendment
    • Sunshine Law
    • Third Amendment
    • Religion & Beliefs
    • Human Rights
    • Immigration
    • Labor Rights
    • 14th Amendment
    • Civil Rights
  • Schools
    • Adult Education
    • Belle Terre Elementary
    • Buddy Taylor Middle
    • Bunnell Elementary
    • Charter Schools
    • Daytona State College
    • Flagler County School Board
    • Flagler Palm Coast High School
    • Higher Education
    • Imagine School
    • Indian Trails Middle
    • Matanzas High School
    • Old Kings Elementary
    • Rymfire Elementary
    • Stetson University
    • Wadsworth Elementary
    • University of Florida/Florida State
  • Economy
    • Jobs & Unemployment
    • Business & Economy
    • Development & Sprawl
    • Leisure & Tourism
    • Local Business
    • Local Media
    • Real Estate & Development
    • Taxes
  • Commentary
    • The Conversation
    • Pierre Tristam
    • Diane Roberts
    • Guest Columns
    • Byblos
    • Editor's Blog
  • Culture
    • African American Cultural Society
    • Arts in Palm Coast & Flagler
    • Books
    • City Repertory Theatre
    • Flagler Auditorium
    • Flagler Playhouse
    • Flagler Youth Orchestra
    • Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra
    • Palm Coast Arts Foundation
    • Special Events
  • Elections 2022
    • Amendments and Referendums
    • Presidential Election
    • Campaign Finance
    • City Elections
    • Congressional
    • Constitutionals
    • Courts
    • Governor
    • Polls
    • Voting Rights
  • Florida
    • Federal Politics
    • Florida History
    • Florida Legislature
    • Florida Legislature
    • Ron DeSantis
  • Health & Society
    • Flagler County Health Department
    • Ask the Doctor Column
    • Health Care
    • Health Care Business
    • Covid-19
    • Children and Families
    • Medicaid and Medicare
    • Mental Health
    • Poverty
    • Violence
  • All Else
    • Daily Briefing
    • Americana
    • Obituaries
    • News Briefs
    • Weather and Climate
    • Wildlife

From Drought to Monsoon, But Fire Officials Warn Wildfires Aren’t Done Yet

June 27, 2011 | FlaglerLive | Leave a Comment

Great for Bunnell, not so drenching on the Espanola fire further west. (© FlaglerLive)

A storm dumped 2.7 inches of rain around the area of the Flagler County Emergency Operations Center in Bunnell Monday afternoon, with similarly heavy rains in the central part of the county from I-95 to just west of Bunnell.

The rain produced sights not seen in the county in months: flooded streets, especially across the old courthouse in Bunnell, on State Road 100, overflowing swales, soaked medians, and cars skidding off roads (an SUV ended up on the sidewalk, past the swale, on the southern end of Belle Terre Parkway during the storm). The weather itself made a sharp U-turn from the dry spell that had parched grounds and fueled dozens of fires.

But Monday’s rains did not stretch to the area where they were needed most: the Espanola fire, about six miles west of Palm Coast. That fire did get some rain over the weekend, however. But it’s still burning. State and county fire officials this morning cautioned that absent continuous and direct rain on the fire, it will still burn, though it has been contained to up to 70 percent.

Bob Pickering, a county emergency technician and the EOC’s weather guru, said Monday afternoon that radar readings showed rain of 1 to 2 inches in the northeast quadrant of the county, very little along the beaches, and very little out west. The rain stayed primarily on Bunnell and west-central Palm Coast, he said, though DOF’s gauges will more precisely tell the story of precipitation in the Espanola area by Tuesday morning.

That fire now has 20 miles of fire lines around it. About a third are not in muck, organic-like soil, which burns easily and deeply, to up to four feet, so when it rains, even heavily, as it did over the weekend, the moisture saturated just the top foot or so, leaving the smoldering underground still hot, still burning. “The fire can literally creep across that muck and soil,” Tom Donahoe, the DOF’s operations chief, said. “Not only we can;t get our fire lines deep enough, the muck is so deep that we can’t get down to the mineral soil that will actually stop the spread of the fire, so it’s kind of like working a big cigar. The thing just continues to smolder and smolder and smolder.”

The brush trucks engines work the road system and the hot spots along the road.


“Fire behavior in terms of what’s going on has begun to moderate,” Keith Mousel, a DOF plans chief and fire behavior analyst, said the morning. “We are picking up a few new starts periodically, but they’re able to get on them. If a new start gets started and gets outside the rain band and some wind can get behind it, we’re looking at rates of spread of six to 12 chains per hour. Roughly a chain is 66 feet. So you’re looking at roughly 700 feet an hour that it can truly run. That’s in the pine uplands fuels. If it’s in some heavier fuels, our flame lengths could be up to 10 feet in length, but that’s going to take some wind to get behind it and push it out. So nothing real bad, but there’s still some potential out there, some still dry pockets out there, we’ve got to keep our heads up. Just be aware that activity could pick up again. One or two days, three days of drying and we may see a little bit of activity.”

Some 80 DOF firefighters are working on the fire in one day shift. They’re not working at night. The calmer fire activity has also allowed county fire fighters to end the mandatory 36-hour on, 36-hour off shifts. Overtime is still necessary to cover all demands, but on a voluntary basis. At the Espanola fire, about 16 Type 6 engines, or brush trucks, are deployed, along with 21 bulldozers and other equipment. The east and north sides of the fire are well contained and under control. The southern side, less so.

Pine needles are starting to drop on the fire, as are leaves: dozers are working to prevent re-burns. Meanwhile, the National Guard’s Black Haw helicopters are still at the Flagler County Airport, available for water-dumping on any fire, but they haven’t been used for several days.

Muck soil inside the Espanola fire perimeter. (© FlaglerLive)

Print Friendly, PDF & Email
You and your neighbors collectively read our articles about 25,000 times each day (that's not a typo) with up to 65,000 daily reads during emergencies like hurricanes. Flagler County residents rely on FlaglerLive for essential, bold and analytical journalism that cannot be found anywhere else. But we depend on your support. Please join our December fund drive! If you donate the cost of a scoop of ice cream, you will be helping us continue to provide comprehensive local news and honest, serious journalism for our community. If you can donate more or become a monthly donor, even better. Donations are tax deductible since FlaglerLive is a 501(c)(3) non-profit news organization. Donate by clicking anywhere in this box. Think of it as buying a scoop, in every sense of the term!  
All donors' identities are kept confidential and anonymous.
   

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Primary Sidebar

Advertisers

  • grand living realty
  • politis matovina attorneys for justice personal injury law auto truck accidents
  • WNZF Creekside Festival

Recent Comments

  • Pierre Tristam on Florida’s Policing of Public Restroom Gender Draws Federal Lawsuit from Trans and Nonbinary Group
  • James Fiske on Palm Coast Council Member Steps Back from Malacompra Beach Annexation, Opting for ‘Different Options’
  • Joseph Barand on Sally Hunt Raises Questions About Using Schools as Shelters During Hurricane Emergencies
  • Truth on Sally Hunt Raises Questions About Using Schools as Shelters During Hurricane Emergencies
  • PDiddy on Sally Hunt Raises Questions About Using Schools as Shelters During Hurricane Emergencies
  • Atwp on Bible Challenge in Flagler Schools Unravels Inconsistencies, Arbitrariness and Confusion in Review Process
  • The dude on Sally Hunt Raises Questions About Using Schools as Shelters During Hurricane Emergencies
  • Mary on Bible Challenge in Flagler Schools Unravels Inconsistencies, Arbitrariness and Confusion in Review Process
  • No brainer on Sally Hunt Raises Questions About Using Schools as Shelters During Hurricane Emergencies
  • Norman Roy on At Post-Segregated Assemblies Town Hall, Superintendent Bridges Conversation Beyond Walls and Outrage
  • BIG AL on Sally Hunt Raises Questions About Using Schools as Shelters During Hurricane Emergencies
  • Moriah Smith on Florida’s Policing of Public Restroom Gender Draws Federal Lawsuit from Trans and Nonbinary Group
  • TR on Sally Hunt Raises Questions About Using Schools as Shelters During Hurricane Emergencies
  • Percy's mother on Sally Hunt Raises Questions About Using Schools as Shelters During Hurricane Emergencies
  • Mary Ann Suwinski on Sally Hunt Raises Questions About Using Schools as Shelters During Hurricane Emergencies
  • Pogo on The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Friday, September 29, 2023

Log in