I-95 Closed by Florida Wildfires

[coldfront]

I-95 closed by Florida wildfires
Eight thousand acres burned, officials say

Monday, May 8, 2006; Posted: 11:33 a.m. EDT (15:33 GMT)

NEW SMYRNA BEACH, Florida (AP) -- Smoldering brush fires kept about 1,000 people from their homes early Monday, and the heavy smoke shut down parts of Interstate 95 between Daytona Beach and the Cape Canaveral area.

At least one home was destroyed and about 8,000 acres scorched by the fires that began Friday and flared up through the weekend, officials said.

"The state as a whole is just extremely dry right now," said Jim Brenner, fire management administrator for the state Division of Forestry. "These fires are consuming everything. And it's not over by any stretch of the imagination."

Smoke from the fires blended with fog early Monday and blanketed I-95 in Brevard County, forcing the shut down of a 20-mile stretch of highway. Another 12 miles had already been shut down because of the smoke. Authorities blamed the low visibility for a five-vehicle crash that killed two people Sunday.

"The hint to motorists is don't use I-95 in the next couple of days if you don't have to. We want motorists to avoid 95 from Indian River County up to Jacksonville," said Florida Highway Patrol spokeswoman Kim Miller.

The flames were right behind Rita McSweeney's home when she fled her golf course community.

"I could see it through the woods," McSweeney told The Daytona Beach News-Journal. "The sky was black, black, black, black, and then it would turn fire engine red. It felt like I could reach out and touch the fire."

[BLSboy]

This isnt just Volusia County. We were activated as part of a Strike Team all last week, and into this weekend. This happened yesterday, prompting daily closures of I-95

link with pictures

http://floridatoday.com/apps/pbcs.dl...WS01/605080330

Fatal crash spurs daily detours

Smoke forces I-95, Beachline closings during morning hours

PORT ST. JOHN - Brevard County's brush fires claimed their first two victims early Sunday in a fiery chain-reaction crash on Interstate 95 that will force 5 a.m.-to-9 a.m. closures of major highways for at least several days.

Blinded by smoke and fog, drivers of four tractor-trailers and a compact car collided and exploded in flames about 6:15 a.m. just south of the Port St. John Parkway interchange. Flames seared the highway and reduced the vehicles to a mountain of black rubble.

"We have dump trucks coming in to take all of it to the county dump. We're also going to have to evaluate the asphalt," said Jim Connelly, a supervisor with the Florida Department of Transportation.

Two tractor-trailer drivers burned to death, prompting daily morning shutdowns of I-95 and the Beachline Expressway until dense smoke from lingering brush fires clears.

"The hint to motorists is don't use I-95 in the next couple of days if you don't have to. We want motorists to avoid 95 from Indian River County up to Jacksonville," said Kim Miller, Florida Highway Patrol spokeswoman.

Explosions cast flames 30 to 60 feet in the smoggy morning air.

"You could hear the screeching and the hollering," said Florida Highway Patrol Trooper Chuck Griffith, who arrived on the scene within two minutes.

The crash resulted in the first fatalities directly attributed to smoldering brush fires in Port St. John that first began clouding surrounding roadways almost two weeks ago, Griffith said.

Two drivers -- one hauling hundreds of pounds of ribs, ham and pork loins in a truck from Goldsboro, N.C., and the other carrying dry ice -- were killed. Their badly burned bodies were found in the trucks' fire-gutted cabins.

The driver of the meat truck was identified as Stephen Ray Taylor of Greensboro, N.C. He died two days before his 50th birthday.

The ice truck was burned so badly that investigators could not find any marks to identify the vehicle's owner or state of origin. The driver could not be identified.

"We're not going to know about him for a long time," Miller said.

Another tractor-trailer driver, identified as 67-year-old Willie Brown of Jacksonville, was transporting U.S. mail. He suffered burns to his neck and body, while his load of bulk mail was destroyed in the fire.

"He got himself out, and I pulled him to the grass. His skin was coming off and his pants were burned away," Griffith said. "But once he sat down, he pulled out his cell phone and called his family."

Brown was airlifted to the burn unit at Orlando Regional Medical Center, where he was in stable condition Sunday evening.

A fourth truck driver, Gerardo Cabrera, 34, of Miami was unhurt.

Gayle Dixon, 52, a nurse from Titusville, was driving the Ford Escort. She suffered minor injuries and was taken by ambulance to Wuesthoff Medical Center-Rockledge.

I-95 closed for 6 hours after crash

Brush fires smoldered in Brevard on Sunday. However, near New Smyrna Beach in Volusia County, a raging fire forced the evacuation of about 800 homes and destroyed 1,000 acres of brush and at least one home. Highways also were closed in Volusia, because of smoke.

Sunday's crash in Brevard shut down both north and southbound lanes of I-95 for at least six hours as Florida Department of Transportation work crews used three heavy loaders to clear tons of charred, fire-warped metal from the burned tractor-trailers. A street sweeper helped clean the soot-caked highway.

Brevard County Fire-Rescue crews -- already battle-weary from fighting fires that charred more than 6,000 acres in Port St. John during the past two weeks -- arrived to spray foam and water on a surreal scene of frozen blocks of dry ice and burning pork ribs.

When the crash occurred, FHP had just begun to close the highway. Miller explained it takes several agencies to close major roadways.

"We believe our response time was adequate," Miller said, adding accidents also are common during road closures, when vehicles are backed up in traffic. "Our troopers were monitoring traffic on the interstate and getting officers in place to shut down the road when this happened."

Smoky situation

Miller said while other motorists were slowing, the unidentified driver who died in the ice truck was seen driving carelessly and too fast in smoky conditions.

Officials said the chain reaction started after Cabrera, the driver of a tractor-trailer hauling cardboard, saw troopers working another minor accident on the highway.

Cabrera slowed and pulled to the right shoulder.

Brown, hauling U.S. mail, was slowing in the next lane. Close behind Brown was the meat truck in the left lane.

At that point, the tractor-trailer loaded with dry ice parted the thickening smoke and struck the truck carrying mail, knocking it into the tractor-trailer stuffed with the compressed cardboard.

"He didn't slow down," Miller said of the driver of the dry ice truck.

The dry ice truck then veered to the left, striking the meat truck and causing it to flip into the median. The Ford Escort, driven by Dixon, slammed into the back of the ice truck.

"They all caught fire because the ice truck's diesel engine was ripped open and (caught) fire," Miller said.

FHP thinks Taylor died instantly. It's not known whether the other driver died from the impact or the fire.

Traffic on the interstate backed up at least two miles in both directions as FHP troopers, with the assistance of Brevard County sheriff's deputies, steered motorists to nearby exits at the Port St. John Parkway.

Motorists heading to Brevard from Volusia and Indian River counties also were notified by message boards about the slowdowns, Miller said. Today, the same boards are expected to inform commuters about the morning closures.

"My advice?" Griffith said. "Stay off Interstate 95 until we get a good rain."

Staff writer Juan Ortega contributed to this report. Contact Gallop at 242-3668 or jdgallop@flatoday.net

[cityfire7]

We lost a total of three houses Sunday night. Two from spot-over (burned the roofs off) and one just over-run by the flame-front.

[BLSboy]

Cityfire,
Are you VCFS?

[cityfire7]

BLSboy,

No, I am with the City of Macclenny (twenty miles west of Jacksonville). We went in as state mutual aid through the Florida Fire Chiefs' Association. We were in a strike team with St. Johns, Flagler, Nassau and Clay Counties.

I just heard during lunch that they lost another home last night after I left.

[BLSboy]

Thats a helluva drive!
I was part of a Strike Team that was at the Port St. Johns fires in Brevard Coutny

[cityfire7]

Thats a helluva drive!

Yes, it is. The right leg goes numb after about an hour of holding the throttle down.

[BLSboy]

At least your ride wasnt an 89 E-Wont with an partial open cab
all i heard was rrrrrrrrrrr for the next hour and a half

[cityfire7]

So, how did you guys make out over there? Did you all get any rain over the past three or four days?

We had a small set of showers roll through during the evening on Monday but everything was back to dust before 8:00AM Tuesday.

[BLSboy]

We sent a crew there almost every day. I was there once, and sat in staging the whole time, ( was working my "real" job dispatching) but they got to fight some good fire. saved a couple houses from what i hear. i think we got like .3 of an inch

[kvtwitt]

i dont mean to come off sounding like a dick but the fires in florida have burned 9000 arcers? thats it? that makes national news? i got a kick when i heard they had to bring in the national guard to help put out those fires. whats to burn swamp? the president has to come out and help his brother for 9000 arcers but takes 5 day to help the people that were displaced from katrina and thats with a three day notice! all im tryin to say is that 9000 acrers is just a drop in the bucket.

[BLSboy]

Those 9k acres were close to residences, as well as major thouroghfares (I-95, SR 528, etc). Closing I-95 requires damn near an act of GOD himself.

[cityfire7]

i dont mean to come off sounding like a dick too late but the fires in florida have burned 9000 arcers? thats it? that makes national news? i got a kick when i heard they had to bring in the national guard to help put out those fires. They didn't bring in the national guard to fight the fires. They declared a state emergency so that more state resources could be utilized in mitigation efforts. whats to burn swamp? Actually there were more than a thousand homes DIRECTLY threatened by the Volusia County fire alone the president has to come out and help his brother for 9000 arcers but takes 5 day to help the people that were displaced from katrina and thats with a three day notice! Please don't turn this into another Katrina tirade by the "It's All Bush's Fault" wing. all im tryin to say is that 9000 acrers is just a drop in the bucket.

Over the last eight years I have come to see nine thousand acres as a mid-sized fire. However, in this case the nine thousand is a total state-wide. I have fought fires that were 110,000 acres that didn't have as large of an impact on the state. The chances are that the larger fires are occurring in lightly populated areas. These events (the ones totalling the nine thousand)are occurring in residential areas with major interface problems. In Volusia County this past weekend we had around two hundred firefighters fighting to contain a one thousand acre fire that ultimately destroyed three homes. This was just one of the three events that were pulling resources from across the state this past weekend.

[BLSboy]

In Brevard (just south of Volusia), we had over 150 FFs at a time, 4 helos, and a P-3 Orion fighting a fire. We are talking about brush that is thick as hell, and sugar sand to get to the fire. All of these fires are threatening homes, and roads, so dude, before you go running off at the mouth, check you facts.
And Pres. Bush was coming down here anyway, NOT just to vistit Jeb and pat us on the back.
We have learned ALOT from the fires of 98

[kvtwitt]

like I said a drop in the bucket! Drip Drip Drip! if you want real fire come on out to the West Coast!

[kvtwitt]

thats funny how you edited what i said. lol!

[BLSboy]

Dude, our winds ALWAYS shift, we have no idea when and where they will blow! sometimes, we get winds from 3 directions. Real fire....I watched a fire grow from >1 acre to more then 30 acres in les then 15 min. Now by no stretch of the imagination am I a wildland FF, but damn, its bad here!

[Deputy10D9]

Cityfire7 hit the nail on the head. "Interface".
I've seen 3 acre fires burn down structures. Sure, out west you get the 250,000 acre fires. But there is no interface. There is nothing around for 50 or 100 miles. So nothing is affected. Not much of a challenge if you ask me.

[coldfront]

[QUOTE=kvtwitt]i dont mean to come off sounding like a dick but the fires in florida have burned 9000 arcers? thats it? that makes national news? i got a kick when i heard they had to bring in the national guard to help put out those fires. whats to burn swamp? the president has to come out and help his brother for 9000 arcers but takes 5 day to help the people that were displaced from katrina and thats with a three day notice! all im tryin to say is that 9000 acrers is just a drop in the bucket.


That it?

Sorry the fires don't meet your standards!

The eastern departments (Structural) have a initial attack engine more readily available and generally in locations which allows for a quicker knock down.This equals more fires however lower acreage.

[cityfire7]

thats funny how you edited what i said. lol!

I hope that you realize that I didn't "edit" anything that you said. I simply inserted my responses to your statements.

I am just curious how many "big" fires you have seen (by that I mean "actually worked" not just watching on TV)? I am sure that in your three whole years of experience that you have been to some MAJOR fires.

And before you ask, yes I HAVE. 1998 (65,000 acres in Duval County, 25,000 in Suwannee County, 100,000+ in Charlton County,GA) 1999 (125,000 acres in Columbia/Baker County) 2001 (250,000+ in Lafayette County) 2004 (25,000 in Baker County). And all of these have been as a structural firefighter assisting forestry units.