Posted on 05/13/2008 8:33:27 AM PDT by Sax
Relentless wildfires burned Tuesday morning across Florida's Atlantic coast, taxing firefighters and overwhelming residents trying to save their homes with garden hoses.
Firefighters in Brevard County were working for a third day trying to stop flames that have destroyed four homes and damaged about 70. The state's largest blaze has charred about 3,800 acres, or nearly 6 square miles, in the neighboring towns of Palm Bay and Malabar.
"Every time I turn around another house is on fire. We don't have enough resources on our own to do a job like this," said Palm Bay spokeswoman Yvonne Martinez.
Officials expressed concern early Tuesday after flare-ups overnight. Flare-ups when humidity is higher can be a bad sign because fire spreads even more quickly during the drier and windier daylight hours, said Palm Bay Assistant Fire Chief Jim Stables.
"It's going to be challenging to get the fire under control," he said.
A 34-mile stretch of Interstate 95 in Brevard County and a portion of U.S. Highway 1 that had been closed due to smoke were reopened early Tuesday.
All 18 schools in Palm Bay, including charter schools, will be closed Tuesday.
One of the homes destroyed in Malabar belonged to Butch Vanfleet, who built the home in 1980 and tried in vain to protect it with a garden hose.
"It's devastation," he said. "All you see is nothing but ash in between the palm trees and the palmetto. There's no grass. The fire just came so quickly, we barely got out of there."
Gov. Charlie Crist declared a state of emergency Monday as dry, windy weather worsened conditions. His orders allow Florida to use federal funds and bring local emergency workers under state control. It also allows Florida to call on other states for help, if necessary.
Firefighters may get some help Tuesday, since winds on the coast were expected to slow to 10 to 15 mph, according to the National Weather Service.
Authorities said the fire may be the result of arson. A witness saw someone in a car drop something into an open field, and the fire started shortly afterward, an arson investigator said.
About 80 miles north in Daytona Beach, an 800-acre fire forced an evacuation order for about 500 homes, but residents were allowed to return Monday evening. No structures were reported damaged, though officials warned embers could fly more than a mile from the blaze and spark new hot spots.
Ray Ademski, a 68-year-old retiree, left his Daytona Beach home with his wife and their important papers when he saw columns of smoke Sunday night around the subdivision. He hosed down the roof and turned on the sprinklers in his yard before the couple left for a hotel.
"I could feel the heat from both sides," said Ademski, who returned by bicycle Monday to survey the damage. "The smoke was going straight into my eyes. It was terrible."
Hundreds of firefighters worked the state's blazes, bulldozing highly flammable brush and vegetation and leaving behind less flammable dirt to keep the fires from advancing. At least three firefighters were injured Monday, according to the Florida Division of Emergency Management.
Man made global warming is to blame.
I live in CA. I am accustomed to these things. Didn’t know this could happen in FL, what with the humidity.
this is sad...but this happens every year at this time...and we go thru the same thing...you would think that the officials in charge would do something to be ready for this....the other thing i find interesting (as i live in daytona) is that on monday 5/13 the news was reporting that some of these fires were caused due to controlled burns that got out of hand due to high winds over the weekend...now there isn’t a word about that and they are shifting the blame to arson....makes you wonder who is trying to take the heat off you....
They can get a lot of fires down there in FL. But personally, I’d rather deal with the wests wild fires than heat and humidity. High humidity makes me angry and hostile. I couldn’t deal with it.
plus, we don’t have gators and Burmese pythons running loose here.
It is very hard to be eaten in CA.
“It is very hard to be eaten in CA.”
There is a SanFranSissyCo joke in there somewhere.
I remember a number of times when I lived in Malabar, having to come home from work and standby with a garden hose...
California gets its rain in the winter and summer dries out and wildfires break out.
Florida peninsula gets its rain June through October and then it dries out and wildfires break out.
Fronts move across the country and hit the Florida panhandle and fizzle out. Peninsula only gets lower humidity and maybe a brief shower that hardly registers on a rain gauge.
Here's a chart of our averages. However, the past two years and this year especially have been dry in mid-peninsula with a 3" rainfall in 12 hours the first week of April and hardly a drop since.
Winter Haven, which is in the middle of the peninsula, has two chains of lakes connected by canals needs some serious rainfall to bring things back to normal.
Thanks Joe. A lot of homes being lost but it is not harry as the past brush fires. Seems this arsonist isn’t that smart.
I just left Vero Beach and headed south on 95...southbound is open. Northbound, on the other hand, is close for Hwy. 60 to Hwy 192. Traffic wanting to exit at Vero was backed up about 5 miles. I’m hoping the Turnpike is open heading north, at least to Yeahaw Junction.
Just had two Blackhawks pass overhead heading south -Governor Crist, I’m guessing.
The fire started back up and many homes were lost. No fire trucks came, just police. The neighbors put up a heroic defense and most of the neighborhood was saved. And that was one of the better-off areas.
Most of the area that burned was on well water. When the power went, so did the water. Rakes and shovels were the main tool. A bucket brigade using someone's swimming pool saved one house.
Figure that of all the lots on a street, perhaps 1 out of 5 or 6 was a vacant lot with lots of vegetation. Lots of saw palmetto, palm trees with the criss-cross "lattice" of old branches going up the trunk, and then taller pine. The ground is covered in pine needles and foot high dry grass. Lots of pine cones mixed in. The waxy vegetation seemed to make it hotter and more persistent. The pine cones and branches that fell kept things burning or rekindled what was first flashed over.
Once the fire reached a palm, it flashed up the trunk burning in the lattice work of dead branches. They'd eventually fall off - still burning - leaving a smooth blackened trunk behind and lots of little firestarters, making sure the fire kept going or worse, spread. When flames reached up to the top of a pine, watch out! It rained flaming debris and made the fire jump to the next lot. The area is dry as a bone.
Much like a tornado can demolish one house and leave those around it untouched, so was this fire. When a house did burn, it burnt down to the foundation. The tallest thing left standing is the refrigerator. You can see the stove, washer and drier, and the a/c blower. The rubble smoked for days. Finally burned out today.
ping to #16 - AAR up.
WOW.
Thanks for the report- I’m so glad you’re ok. I happened to have most of Monday off so watched the coverage live all afternoon. What a nightmare- one fire popping up and then another..all over the place.
I just got in so am catching up- I heard they arrested one suspect - hope they got him and it’s just one evil SOB.
Glad to hear you are OK, but what a close one you had this time.
Let me know If I can help you.
I responded on the state thread, then saw this report.
You were really close to the action...almost too close!
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