Drought, wind fuel woods fire east of DeLand — I-4 open, but watch for smoke today

Troopers on standby, ready to close interstate; now 800 acres, fire burns an eighth of a mile from I-4

By Pat Hatfield
BEACON STAFF WRITER

posted Mar 18, 2009 - 9:51:11pm

UPDATE 7:30 A.M. SATURDAY, MARCH 21 Both Interstate 4 and State Road 44 remain open just east of DeLand this morning. Both Volusia County Fire Services and Highway Patrol officials warn travelers to proceed cautiously in the area. Be prepared to slow down.

Some of the fire's intensity burned down during the cool and calm of the night. As the sun, temperatures and winds increase today, the fire may build more strength.

Winds out of the north-northeast at 15 mph with gusts of 25 mph are expected today, according to the the National Weather Service forecast. Those winds will tend to push the fire toward the interstate interchange at I-4 and S.R. 44. No rain is expected.

Firefighters worked into the dark last night to contain the 800-acre blaze. It produced thick smoke from burning brush.

The fire began in a heavily wooded area south of U.S. 92 and east of Daytona Park Estates earlier this month. It remained small until winds the middle of the past week fanned its growth to 100, 200 and 400 acres. Yesterday, it grew to 800 acres in size.

Wednesday, winds from the east pushed smoke through Daytona Park Estates into DeLand. Friday, winds out of the north and north-northeast pushed the fire and smoke in a more southerly direction, bringing the fire to within a few hundred yards of I-4 and choking the interchange area with smoke.

Last night, Fire Services spokeswoman Shelley Szafraniec said firefighters were beginning to gain control of the blaze. They are back at work this morning.

UPDATE 9:45 P.M. FRIDAY, MARCH 20 Fire commanders ordered firefighters out of the woods for the night. It was too dark to continue the fight.

"The fire's laying down," Fire Services spokeswoman Shelley Szafraniec said.

That means the fire was burning less hotly. Smoke was not as thick as it might have been.

"We will continue to monitor the fire through the night," she said. Interstate 4 was still open. The fire burned just north of the interchange of Interstate 4 and State Road 44.

Motorists in the area of Interstate 4 and S.R. 44, on the east side of DeLand, should proceed cautiously, and be prepared to encounter smoke, she said. They can call the Florida Highway Patrol's 511 number for road information.

Szafraniec said firefighters believe they are getting a grip on the fire. They will return to it first thing in the morning.

The Beacon will post updates as they are available.

UPDATE 8:10 P.M. FRIDAY, MARCH 20 The fire is now only an eighth of a mile north of Interstate 4 near the State Road 44 interchange at DeLand, Volusia County Fire Services spokeswoman Shelley Szfraniec reported. Roads are still open at this time, as the smoke isn't laying down thick enough to make them impassable.

Just before dark, smoke looked almost like fog as it crept across south across S.R. 44, on the east side of the interchange.

Firefighters, Highway Patrol troopers and other emergency workers set up a makeshift command center on the frontage road by the Howard Johnson's Inn, on S.R. 44 on the west side of the interchange. They were monitoring carefully the fire's progress.

The fire began in a heavily wooded area east of Daytona Park Estates and south of U.S. Highway 92. Winds the past few days fanned its growth. Today's winds pushed it to the south, toward the I-4 interchange at S.R. 44.

UPDATE 6:45 P.M. FRIDAY, MARCH 20: Florida Highway Patrol troopers are in place, on standy at Interstate-4 at DeLand, ready to close the road due to the fire, which is approaching the interstate near State Road 44. At 800 acres, the fire has doubled in size since yesterday's report.

"Motorists may want to plan an alternate route when I-4 is shut down," Trooper Kim Miller advised.

The fire has been burning east of Daytona Park Estates in DeLand, to the north of the I-4 interchange at S.R. 44.

Windy conditions again today helped spark the fire's movement.

"We had some fire lines on the southwest side," Volusia County Fire Services spokeswoman Shelley Szfraniec said. Helped by today's wind, sparks jumped the line, and the fire began moving south, toward the interstate exchange.

At 6:45 p.m, she said the fire had grown to 800 acres in size. On its southwest side, "It's less than a quarter of a mile from I-4," Szfraniec said. On its south side, it's about a half a mile north the interchange at S.R. 44.

The Florida Division of Forestry has 11 tractors working to dig new fire lines. Volusia County now has 13 units fighting the fire, assisted by City of DeLand fire units.

If closure is needed, I-4 will be shut down between I-95 and S.R. 472. Both directions would need to be shut down, Miller said.

Alternate routes would be S.R. 46 and S.R. 50, she said.

U.S. Highway 92 east is an alternate route between DeLand and Daytona Beach, and to I-95.

UPDATE 1 P.M. THURSDAY, MARCH 19: The fire near Daytona Park Estates in DeLand has spread. It's now 400 acres in size.

"They're out there, trying to contain it," Volusia County Fire Servies spokeswoman Shelley Szafraniec said.

Division 4 units from Florida Division of Forestry have been assisting Volusia County Fires Services in the fight against the fire. It's burning in a heavily wooded, inaccessible area east of Daytona Park Estates and south of U.S. Highway 92, on the east side of DeLand.

So far, no structures have been threatened. Smoke from the fire is noticeable today in Downtown DeLand and in the Interstate 4/S.R. 44 interchange area east of town.

***

Continuing dry conditions are bringing the DeLand area what many locals have come to dread since the wildfires of 1998.

A fire has been burning in the forest on the east side of DeLand, east of Daytona Park Estates and south of U.S. Highway 92, since March 6.

Winds whipped the flames March 18, carrying smoke and ash westward through the north end of Daytona Park Estates residential development, and across a Florida Department of Transportation facility on Kepler Road, just south of U.S. Highway 92.

As the winds shifted Wednesday evening, Downtown DeLand was filled with the acrid smoke smell so reminiscent of the 1998 burn.

Wednesday afternoon, the fire was burning 100 heavily wooded acres that are difficult for fire vehicles to reach, Volusia County Fire Services spokeswoman Shelley Szafraniec said.

That makes firefighters' jobs even tougher. "They're out there and really fighting it," she said.

The blaze had been largely contained in a swampy area until Wednesday's winds fueled its growth. There was no imminent danger to property or structures Wednesday afternoon, Szafraniec said.

Volusia County Fire Services banned burning outdoors in the unincorporated parts of the county on Jan. 21, and there has been little rain since. The cities of DeBary, Pierson, Lake Helen, and Oak Hill also have banned outdoor burning. All burn bans are still in effect.

On the south end of DeLand about 10:35 a.m. March 18, a cigarette carelessly discarded outdoors sparked a fire that burned the exterior of a mobile home at Sha-De-Land Mobile Home Park, the DeLand Fire Department reported. The $10,000 home had $2,000 in damage, according to the report. The blaze was quickly contained, and no one was hurt.

The National Weather Service in Melbourne said drought conditions are expected to continue, with little chance of any rain through Tuesday, March 24.

— pat@beacononlinenews.com

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