Firefighters Battle 10-Acre Wildfire at Seminole Woods Blvd. and Sloganeer Trail in Palm Coast

At just after 3 p.m., the Division of Forestry was reporting that the fire was 50 percent contained.

Seminole Woods Boulevard was closed to traffic in either direction from the intersection with Sloganeer Trail as firefighters were battling fires on either side of the road, Flagler County Fire Chief Don Petito said at 3:30 p.m. “The fire jumped the road right there,” he said.

The Palm Coast Fire Department, Flagler County Fire Rescue and three bulldozers from the Florida Division of Forestry were working the fire, which was spotting in places–meaning that ash was jumping the road and possibly starting smaller fires across Seminole Woods, toward the White Eagle.

“Today is extremely high fire danger,” Petito said, citing dry conditions and high winds. “The biggest problem we have is it’s so windy that the fire is spotting.”

Flagler County Fire Flight, the emergency helicopter, was assisting from the air, detecting fire spotting in places, dropping buckets of water or directing trucks below to attack. The Division of Forestry were digging a containment line around the main fire.

The Palm Coast Fire Department’s Patrick Juliano said firefighters were called to the scene at 12:30 p.m. “Due to high winds today we got a tree that touched a power line, that’s what initially started it,” Juliano said. The wind was a concern, as it was making conditions unpredictable.

Juliano said one fire spotted over to Sligo Mill Court but was immediately attacked and controlled. “Crews were on it right away,” he said.

Motorists were being advised to avoid the area–and if not, to be “vigilant” of their whereabouts, with thick smoke expected to continue for several hours, Juliano said.

There were no reports of property damage, Petito said. The Flagler County Sheriff’s Office is also at the scene. Responders expected to be at the scene for much of the coming evening, but by 5:45, they had cleared the scene and reopened the roads. But just before 7 p.m., crews were dispatched back to the area after alerts about some flares.

Sloganeer Trail and Sligo Mill were among the areas most seriously struck by the brush fires of June 2011, which ravaged many parts of Seminole Woods and other parts of the county–without, nevertheless, destroying a single house. Sligo Mill, in fact, was the scene of a near-miraculous attack by firefighters, who managed to beat back flames from within a sliver of a set of houses. See the story from that time: “Miracle on Sligo Mill Court: Homes Saved From Another Seminole Woods Eruption.”