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No red flags in Pinellas
Fires prompt state of emergency
By SUZETTE PORTER
Article published on Wednesday, May 10, 2006 |
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![[Image]](/content_images/051006_fpg-01-a.jpg) |
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| Photo courtesy of NASA |
| A number of wildfires burned in Eastern Florida on May 7, clouding the skies with smoke. At 6,000 acres, the largest of the fires was the Areca Fire burning in Palmetto, pines, and grasses along the Interstate-95 corridor. Smoke from the fires closed roads in the region, including the Interstate, and forced about 1,000 people from their homes. |
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![[Image]](/content_images/051006_fpg-01-b.jpg) |
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| Photo courtesy of NASA |
| The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer on NASA's Aqua satellite captured this image of the Areca Fire at 2:55 p.m. The fire itself is outlined in red, and a thick plume of smoke blows east over the Atlantic Ocean. The National Interagency Fire Center said that the Areca Fire was 80 percent contained as of May 8. |
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PINELLAS COUNTY - Gov. Jeb Bush declared a state of emergency on Tuesday morning in response to the many brush fires burning around the state.
The governor's declaration was in response to recent fires in Brevard, Volusia, Hillsborough and Lee counties. Portions of Interstate 95 in southeast Florida and portions of I-75 in Hillsborough County were closed this week due to brush fires. Residents in these areas have been forced to evacuate.
The governor's declaration cited the extreme dry weather conditions due to low precipitation statewide and National Weather Service forecasts that dry weather will continue for at least another 90 days.
Pinellas County has yet to have any major fires because of the drought conditions, according to Mike Cooksey, fire coordinator for the Pinellas County EMS and Fire Administration.
"Pinellas has not reached the red flag warning stage," he said.
Mike Clay, chief meteorologist for Bay News 9, said the fire risk in Pinellas was being lessened by afternoon sea breezes that come in off the Gulf and increase humidity.
Statistics for yearly rainfall totals in Pinellas County as of Tuesday were about normal - 12 inches, he said. However, Clay said, 10 of those inches fell on one day in February. He also said that because February's record rainfall had been contained in a narrow band, which included southern and central Pinellas and some of Hillsborough County, rainfall totals for the rest of the state, where the fire danger is higher, were lower.
Current drought conditions around the state are the result of a dry winter and dry spring, Clay said.
Clay said thanks to the inch of rain that fell Tuesday morning, the county's rainfall for May was about normal. April's rainfall totals in the county were about .75 below normal.
Cooksey said some counties had a ban on all outdoor burning. Cooksey said if conditions warranted, fire officials would make a request for a countywide burn ban to the Board of County Commissioners.
Meanwhile, he urged residents to practice caution with any outdoor fires and to contain any sparks or large flames. Smokers also should be careful to make sure cigarettes are extinguished in a proper receptacle.
"People should take extreme precautions with outdoor fires as drought conditions are expected to worsen," he said.
The declared state of emergency authorizes the availability of additional resources for the Division of Forestry and local firefighters who could be asked to respond to the danger of multiple fires starting at the same time in different parts of the state.
Authority for coordination of providing the additional resources and implementation of the state's emergency plan has been given to the Director of the Division of Emergency Management.
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Article published on Wednesday, May 10, 2006
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