Strong Winds Complicates Wildfire Fight
Pastor Dale Morgan
Strong Winds Complicates Wildfire Fight*
Monday May 14, 2007 7:01 PM
LAKE CITY, Fla. (AP) - Strong winds complicated firefighters' efforts to
contain a massive wildfire along the Georgia-Florida line Monday, and
officials warned that more residents might have to evacuate.
The wind was gusting up to 25 mph Monday morning. Scattered showers and
thunderstorms were forecast later in the day, but the help from the rain
could be offset by lightning sparking new fires.
About 570 Florida residents were already out of their homes between
Interstate 10 and the Georgia line on Monday, and Columbia County
schools were closed as a precaution. County spokesman Harvey Campbell
said more evacuations might be ordered west of the fire in rural
Columbia and Hamilton counties, where firefighters have struggled
against the wind-whipped flames.
``We're telling people to think of it like it's a hurricane ... in terms
of getting prescriptions, paperwork, clothing and ready to move if
conditions warrant,'' Campbell said.
In Georgia, 15 to 20 homes north of the tiny city of Fargo remained
evacuated Monday, and more residents in town were being told pack
valuables and necessities in case they have to leave, and to place
sprinklers atop their homes, officials said.
The wildfire was started by lightning more than a week ago and raced
through the Okefenokee Swamp in southeast Georgia and into northern
Florida. By Monday, it had burned 102,500 acres in Florida and 139,813
acres of swampland in Georgia - nearly 380 square miles in all.
The fire was 30 percent contained in Florida and the smoke was beginning
to lift enough for firefighting aircraft to take off after being
grounded all weekend because of low visibility.
Smoke from hundreds of fires in the two states has plagued drivers.
About 75 miles of Interstates 10 and 75 in South Florida were expected
to open only intermittently on Monday. The haze has traveled as far
south as the Miami area, about 340 miles away.
Elsewhere, a blaze feeding on drought-stricken forest in northern
Minnesota was only 20 percent contained Monday morning. The fire had
burned a combined 93 square miles in Minnesota and Canada.
Dewey Hanson, a spokesman for the Minnesota Interagency Fire Center,
said the area got a little moisture on Sunday from heavy mist and
drizzle. The National Weather Service forecast a small chance of showers
Monday night and Tuesday.
The fire closed about half of the 57-mile-long Gunflint Trail, a key
route from Grand Marais into the Boundary Waters Canoe Area wilderness
that is dotted with resorts and lake homes. Officials said the fire had
destroyed 133 buildings, including 61 homes. They estimated the value of
buildings lost at $3.7 million.
Off Southern California, cool weather Sunday helped firefighters on
Santa Catalina Island maintain control of a blaze that had threatened
the resort community of Avalon.
The 4,200-acre or 6.5-square-mile fire was 76 percent contained Sunday
and was expected to be encircled by Tuesday evening. One home and six
businesses burned but no one was seriously injured.
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On the Net:
National Interagency Fire Center: http://www.nifc.gov