Florida: Raging Wildfire chars 15,000 acres, burns vehicles and structures, closes roads, schools
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Pastor Dale Morgan
Mar 1, 2011, 3:31:31 AM3/1/11
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Florida: Raging Wildfire chars 15,000 acres, burns vehicles and structures, closes roads, schools
Flames force evacuation of homes
9:27 PM, Feb. 28, 2011 |
Official, evacuee discuss brushfire: A Division of Forestry fire official and an evacuees from the Crystal Lake RV Park discuss the massive brush fire burning in northern Brevard County. Video by Craig Rubadoux. Posted Feb. 28, 2011
A brush fire burns Monday afternoon near Stuckway Road in Mims.
Flames shoot into the air off Vermont Avenue near Parrish Park in Scottsmoor as firefighters battle a huge brush fire Monday night. / Andrew Knapp, FLORIDA
SCOTTSMOOR — The large brush fire that emergency officials had feared all winter finally ignited Monday and burned a swath of more than 15,000 acres across much of the mainland in North Brevard and prompted a voluntary evacuation.
Flames were blown by 20 mph wind around recreational vehicles, mobile homes and houses in Scottsmoor and Mims as the brush fire burned from west of Interstate 95 to near the Indian River.
The blaze that started north of State Road 46 around noon had destroyed two hunting camps and some abandoned mobile homes by midnight. Kimberly Prosser, spokeswoman for the county, said a man lost his mobile home to the fire at 6672 N. Highway 1 in Mims.
A state of emergency was declared in Brevard, an act that allows fire crews to streamline the process for requesting aid in fighting the massive blaze, Prosser said.
Pinewood Elementary in Mims is closed today, and no busing for Brevard Public Schools will take place north of State Road 46, Prosser said.
Wind reaching 20 mph near the wildfire, named "Ironhorse," attributed to its quick spread.
About 2 p.m., it forced the evacuation of the Crystal Lake RV Park near Stuckway Road and the interstate. At 10 p.m., about 1,400 telephone numbers -- including homes and businesses -- in the area of Stuckway Road and U.S. 1 received reverse 9-1-1 calls, suggesting that residents evacuate.
Also as of 10 p.m., I-95 was shut down at the Brevard-Volusia County line and U.S. 1 was shut down from SR 46 north to SR 3 (Kennedy Parkway) in Volusia.
"It's been so erratic," said Orlando Dominguez, division chief for Brevard County Fire-Rescue.
"The wind is so strong, and it shifts the fire right when you think you have a handle on it."
The fire burned up to the ballfield at Parrish Park in Scottsmoor. Donna Scarboro, 49, lives in a mobile home nearby, and when she returned from work at about 4 p.m., she thought nothing of the fire. Within three hours, the fire had scorched the flatwoods 20 feet from her home.
"It was just all this smoke. All the firefighters left and nobody said anything," Scarboro said. "I'm glad they came back. If they didn't, I probably wouldn't have a home."
The fire jumped I-95 between 4 and 5 p.m., according to Cliff Frazier, Wildfire Mitigation Specialist for the Division of Forestry, and destroyed two 12-by-20-foot hunting cabins in the woods of Scottsmoor. U.S. 1 also was shut down for much of the afternoon.
"It's just being fueled by the wind and all the dry vegetation from the hard freezes," Frazier said. "We're doing everything we can to get a handle on it."
Derrick Weitlich, meteorologist at the National Weather Service in Melbourne, said winds were forecast to remain at 8 mph to 10 mph from the west and maybe turn from southwest through the night, but he said witness accounts of stronger gusts can be attributed to fires such as this one creating their own conditions.
"Since it's a large fire, it's kind of creating its own environment through the sheer amount of heat it's producing," Weitlich said. "The winds could be more gusty due to the heat."
"Because heat is allowing for more mixing and the winds just above the surface are stronger, it's allowing the stronger winds to mix down and get more gusty," Weitlich said, citing possible gusts of up to 20 mph around the fire.
Jane Bowden, public relations chair for the American Red Cross Space Coast Chapter, said about 20 residences were evacuated from the Crystal Lakes RV Park area in Scottsmoor.
By 11 p.m., about 15 people had stopped in at the Red Cross evacuation shelter in Mims, including about five who had since left for other accommodations.
The Red Cross shortly before midnight was preparing to open a second shelter, at the Sandrift Recreation Center, 585 N. Singleton Ave., off Garden Street, in Titusville.
Leo Patterson, 75, of Pittsburgh, Pa., had his 40-foot motorcoach hooked up at Crystal Lake, loaded with 90 gallons of diesel fuel and 30 gallons of propane.
"Last year, we were fishing and there were tornado warnings," he said. "Today, I found out that the campground was going to be on fire."
Patterson said Brevard County Sheriff's Office deputies told them they had 20 minutes to get out. His motor home is still in the campground.
Tom Campbell of Bentleyville, Pa., was among five people from the evacuated Crystal Lake RV Park who came to the Red Cross shelter at Cuyler Park's community center in Mims by 8:30 p.m.
He and his wife also had to leave their 32-foot RV at the Scottsmoor park after they returned from an afternoon at the beach in New Smyrna Beach. Authorities already evacuated the RV park, and would not allow them back inside for their RV or their belongings.
Campbell, 62, said he was unaware of the fire until getting a call from a friend while he was at the beach.
He said he is worried about leaving the RV at Crystal Lake, but there was nothing he could do about it.
The Red Cross provided a pizza dinner for the evacuees and a place for them to spend the night if needed.
About five Red Cross volunteers were standing by at the center.
Diane Jones, 55, of Ohio left the RV campground and was standing near the Stuckey's BP gas station at the interstate when she was told to leave about 8 p.m. Five minutes later, embers caught the forest on fire on the other side of Stuckway Road.
"I'm just glad there were no casualties," Jones said. "I've never seen anything like this before. But I'm still alive, so I'm a happy camper."
FLORIDA TODAY staff J.D. Gallop and Lee Nessel contributed to this report.
Florida: Raging Wildfire chars 15,000 acres, burns vehicles and structures, closes roads, schools
Flames force evacuation of homes
9:27 PM, Feb. 28, 2011 |
Official, evacuee discuss brushfire: A Division of Forestry fire official and an evacuees from the Crystal Lake RV Park discuss the massive brush fire burning in northern Brevard County. Video by Craig Rubadoux. Posted Feb. 28, 2011
A brush fire burns Monday afternoon near Stuckway Road in Mims.
Flames shoot into the air off Vermont Avenue near Parrish Park in Scottsmoor as firefighters battle a huge brush fire Monday night. / Andrew Knapp, FLORIDA
SCOTTSMOOR — The large brush fire that emergency officials had feared all winter finally ignited Monday and burned a swath of more than 15,000 acres across much of the mainland in North Brevard and prompted a voluntary evacuation.
Flames were blown by 20 mph wind around recreational vehicles, mobile homes and houses in Scottsmoor and Mims as the brush fire burned from west of Interstate 95 to near the Indian River.
The blaze that started north of State Road 46 around noon had destroyed two hunting camps and some abandoned mobile homes by midnight. Kimberly Prosser, spokeswoman for the county, said a man lost his mobile home to the fire at 6672 N. Highway 1 in Mims.
A state of emergency was declared in Brevard, an act that allows fire crews to streamline the process for requesting aid in fighting the massive blaze, Prosser said.
Pinewood Elementary in Mims is closed today, and no busing for Brevard Public Schools will take place north of State Road 46, Prosser said.
Wind reaching 20 mph near the wildfire, named "Ironhorse," attributed to its quick spread.
About 2 p.m., it forced the evacuation of the Crystal Lake RV Park near Stuckway Road and the interstate. At 10 p.m., about 1,400 telephone numbers -- including homes and businesses -- in the area of Stuckway Road and U.S. 1 received reverse 9-1-1 calls, suggesting that residents evacuate.
Also as of 10 p.m., I-95 was shut down at the Brevard-Volusia County line and U.S. 1 was shut down from SR 46 north to SR 3 (Kennedy Parkway) in Volusia.
"It's been so erratic," said Orlando Dominguez, division chief for Brevard County Fire-Rescue.
"The wind is so strong, and it shifts the fire right when you think you have a handle on it."
The fire burned up to the ballfield at Parrish Park in Scottsmoor. Donna Scarboro, 49, lives in a mobile home nearby, and when she returned from work at about 4 p.m., she thought nothing of the fire. Within three hours, the fire had scorched the flatwoods 20 feet from her home.
"It was just all this smoke. All the firefighters left and nobody said anything," Scarboro said. "I'm glad they came back. If they didn't, I probably wouldn't have a home."
The fire jumped I-95 between 4 and 5 p.m., according to Cliff Frazier, Wildfire Mitigation Specialist for the Division of Forestry, and destroyed two 12-by-20-foot hunting cabins in the woods of Scottsmoor. U.S. 1 also was shut down for much of the afternoon.
"It's just being fueled by the wind and all the dry vegetation from the hard freezes," Frazier said. "We're doing everything we can to get a handle on it."
Derrick Weitlich, meteorologist at the National Weather Service in Melbourne, said winds were forecast to remain at 8 mph to 10 mph from the west and maybe turn from southwest through the night, but he said witness accounts of stronger gusts can be attributed to fires such as this one creating their own conditions.
"Since it's a large fire, it's kind of creating its own environment through the sheer amount of heat it's producing," Weitlich said. "The winds could be more gusty due to the heat."
"Because heat is allowing for more mixing and the winds just above the surface are stronger, it's allowing the stronger winds to mix down and get more gusty," Weitlich said, citing possible gusts of up to 20 mph around the fire.
Jane Bowden, public relations chair for the American Red Cross Space Coast Chapter, said about 20 residences were evacuated from the Crystal Lakes RV Park area in Scottsmoor.
By 11 p.m., about 15 people had stopped in at the Red Cross evacuation shelter in Mims, including about five who had since left for other accommodations.
The Red Cross shortly before midnight was preparing to open a second shelter, at the Sandrift Recreation Center, 585 N. Singleton Ave., off Garden Street, in Titusville.
Leo Patterson, 75, of Pittsburgh, Pa., had his 40-foot motorcoach hooked up at Crystal Lake, loaded with 90 gallons of diesel fuel and 30 gallons of propane.
"Last year, we were fishing and there were tornado warnings," he said. "Today, I found out that the campground was going to be on fire."
Patterson said Brevard County Sheriff's Office deputies told them they had 20 minutes to get out. His motor home is still in the campground.
Tom Campbell of Bentleyville, Pa., was among five people from the evacuated Crystal Lake RV Park who came to the Red Cross shelter at Cuyler Park's community center in Mims by 8:30 p.m.
He and his wife also had to leave their 32-foot RV at the Scottsmoor park after they returned from an afternoon at the beach in New Smyrna Beach. Authorities already evacuated the RV park, and would not allow them back inside for their RV or their belongings.
Campbell, 62, said he was unaware of the fire until getting a call from a friend while he was at the beach.
He said he is worried about leaving the RV at Crystal Lake, but there was nothing he could do about it.
The Red Cross provided a pizza dinner for the evacuees and a place for them to spend the night if needed.
About five Red Cross volunteers were standing by at the center.
Diane Jones, 55, of Ohio left the RV campground and was standing near the Stuckey's BP gas station at the interstate when she was told to leave about 8 p.m. Five minutes later, embers caught the forest on fire on the other side of Stuckway Road.
"I'm just glad there were no casualties," Jones said. "I've never seen anything like this before. But I'm still alive, so I'm a happy camper."
FLORIDA TODAY staff J.D. Gallop and Lee Nessel contributed to this report.
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