Wild Fires

Have any of you heard of the wildfires (especially you people in florida) here in Central Florida? The one in I think Brevard county has been burning for more than a week! Now there's a fire in southeast (I think) Osceola county. I live in the Northwest corner of Osceola (where Hurricane Charley's eye passed directly through) and I'm worried that it might come up north. I know there is a very low possbility of this happening but did you see "It Could Happen Tomorrow Yesterday"? I know we don't have those kond of winds but what if by some miraculous event it comes all the way up north? I'm not sure wheather or not it's coming but I'm still kind of worried. Do you guys think it's coming??? And also could you give me some fire tips??? I have never had my house burned down before (and I don't plan to). I'd really appreciate it.

This is a typical weather pattern and this is the normal fire season for Florida. A bit dryer than average, but not out of the normal range of variation.

Last Hurricane Season Could Mean Intense Fire Season

It's been pretty dry in South Florida, I'm actually looking forward to the rainy season and afternoon thunderstorms. I think you don't need to worry unless you live very close to the affected areas. Our firefighters are doing a great job so far keeping the fires from actually getting to the homes. As for what you can do... clear away dead and dry brush from near and around your property, obviously don't start any fires outdoors and keep your lawn watered. Other than that, not much else except making sure your insurance policy is up to date.

Is your house in a brush area?

California used to require brush be cleared away out to 30' from a building.
A hundred feet is better.

What kind of roof do you have?
Shake? That can create problems.

Adobe, cement tile or steel shingled roofs do well during brushfires.
As do common asphalt shingles.

Shake is the only roof style where it actually does good to water it down.
The other roofs don't need watering and in fact if the whole neighborhood gets into watering roofs you can deprive the fire dept of needed water pressure.

Stucco and brick houses do well in brush fires.
Wood on the outside walls can create problems.

Even if you have your property cleared of brush well back from the house, brush fires in times of high wind will carry flaming debris a long way.
Having brush fires make 1/2 mile and larger jumps is not uncommon.

Got a pool?
And a shake roofed wooden house?
You may want to think about getting an engine driven water pump.
Honda - I think it is - makes a good one.

Use your own water to fight a localized fire.

In California and probably in other states, the Fire Dept looks upon pools as water reservoirs and will pump water from pool to tanker in times of crisis.

Seen it done a few times and no one complained.

Originally posted by Desert Dawg

In California and probably in other states, the Fire Dept looks upon pools as water reservoirs and will pump water from pool to tanker in times of crisis.

Seen it done a few times and no one complained.

Gotta watch that one in Florida. A lot of pools are below the ground water level and cannot be emptied without "popping" out of the ground. The newer ones do have access to pump the ground water from beneath it in case it ever has to be drained for repair so it won't pop, but just something to be aware of.

I'm in Flagler County and so far we have been lucky. We are just as dry as Brevard, but so far nothing has sparked a fire. The fear now is that if storms start but they are only short ones, the lightening could start a fire without enough drenching to help the tinder box conditions.

Originally posted by Desert Dawg
In California and probably in other states, the Fire Dept looks upon pools as water reservoirs and will pump water from pool to tanker in times of crisis.

Seen it done a few times and no one complained.

You are so right about that, some of the laws our chiefs have are that we can drive on your lawn, and suck all the water from your pool. We try not to becuase it is bad public relations, but in a time of emergency it can make the difference between saving a house and watching the chimney fall into the basement.

All your pools are belong to us!

Originally posted by LoneGunMan
but in a time of emergency it can make the difference between saving a house and watching the chimney fall into the basement.

All your pools are belong to us!

Okay then, but just for the record, In Florida we don't have basements either. Same reason why we can't drain the pools. The water table can be only 2 -3 feet below the ground.

Edit: Just received my first Email from the County Alert System. Maybe I should be having these sent to my cell phone at this point:

From Flagler County Emergency Services - FlaglerAlert.com

SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT

BULLETIN - RELAY OF MESSAGEDATE 05/08/06TIME 3:20 PM / 1520HRSFROM THE COMMUNICATIONS SECTIONFLAGLER COUNTY EMERGNECY SERVICES FireFlight and surface reports indicate that drift smoke from the wildfires in Volusia County is blowing into Flagler County. This drift smoke may appear as a thick haze and bring with it a strong smell of smoke. Please do not call 911 unless you see a defined column of smoke or see actual flames. BP

[edit on 5/8/2006 by Relentless]

Govenor Jeb Bush has now issued a state of emergency due to the fires. The fires are causing major road closures and evacuations in multiple places in the state.

my.earthlink.net.../445ec240_3ca6_15526200605081089159496

Gov. Jeb Bush declared a state of emergency Monday as brush fires burned more than 8,000 acres, destroyed homes and forced authorities to shut down highways.

Officials are tracking about 50 active wildfires throughout the water-parched state, and Bush said lightning was probably not to blame in most cases.

my county is burning up now...two separate brush fires just merged in Western Broward County.

3,500-Acre Fire Burns In Western Broward

Here's the latest!

www.foxnews.com...

Officials are tracking about 50 active wildfires throughout the water-parched state, including blazes just south of Daytona Beach that have destroyed three homes and shut down stretches of I-95. State officials believe many of the fires likely started with either human negligence or malevolence.

In Brevard County, all brush fire activity is within the fire lines and there is no threat to structures, county officials said Tuesday, although there is still a significant threat for flare up. The overall fire operation is considered to be 10 percent contained and approximately 6,400 acres have been consumed, officials said.

The governor declared a state of emergency Monday night, deploying aviation units from the Florida National Guard. He also met with some of the 155 firefighters working to contain a fire in New Smyrna Beach that has consumed about 1,300 acres since Sunday and destroyed three homes.

"We are a tinder box right now," said Gov. Bush. "We had a little bit of rain but not enough to give people assurances that we are not going to have more fires."

More than 2,200 wildfires have burned over 44,000 acres in Florida since Jan. 1, according to the state Division of Forestry.

Sorry for the long quote but the article is large and this sums up the severity. This is definately a worse than usual cycle of the fire threats at this point.

My county is rushing through emergency ordinances right now stopping just short of what was issued in 1998 when the entire County was evacuated for the wildfires here then. The only difference this time is you can still use your outdoor grill - for now.

Nothing has eased up still in Florida. There are still new fires every day, luckily most of them are being contained rather quickly. But the list keeps growing - we need rain.

What little is possible each day fizzles out. Usually by now in the season we have sweltering heat all day that would culminate almost daily in severe drenching storms around 5 - 6PM. This is not happening.

I have noticed something though watching each mornings forecast that is very different from previous years and I wonder if you other Floridians (WW?) have noticed the same thing.

In previous years when watching the storms coming through at the end of the day, they have always developed in the west and moved east. Now the storms they are saying could bring some rain to some areas each day are ones developing off the east coast and moving inland (where they pretty much fizzle out quickly after hitting land).

Why aren't we getting the airflow from the west this year that give us the usual storms that will bring relief? this just seems so blatantly atypical and none of the weather forecasters seem to be commenting.

Finally some good news for Florida. Suppossedly relief is just around the corner.

www.theledger.com.../20060531/NEWS/605310356/1004/RSS&source=RSS

TAMPA -- A drought-breaking summer rainy season is just around the corner, with above-normal rainfall forecast for the next few months, regional water officials were told Tuesday.

"We've been in the grip of an unusual dry season, but the good news is that it should be coming to an end," Dave Moore, executive director of the Southwest Florida Water Management District, told Governing Board members

But now we are about to move into an above-normal ranifall? One extreme to the other apparently, but at this point, I'll take the rain.

Thanks for the help everyone, You can stop posting now.