Florida On Fire

With all the heat and no rain Florida is on fire.  As of this morning there are 423 fires around the state.  The eastern shore line counties are being hit the most.  Here in Saint Johns county we have 25 fires.  Most are being caused by lighting strikes.

The fire in the Okefenokee Swamp in Georgia is more than 200,000 acres and crossed into Florida.  It is within 50 miles of Jacksonville.  The ash is falling in Jacksonville making parked cars look like they are covered in snow.

If anyone is thinking of coming down here they should check on the smoke level first.

Terry

We have been fortunate here in the Rio Grande Valley.  Even though we haven't had any measurable rain since March, and have had temps in the upper 90's with plenty of wind.  We haven't had anything major yet.  Hoping for rain later this week.  Hopefully, no on the weekend as I plan on taking the Pod out.

Happy Podding

Here is a link to the forest service: http://www.fl-dof.com/wildfire/information.html 

Click on Current Wildfires for an up to date map showing the fires.  I have to put the map at 100% or it won't show up.  Now I see the fire numbers are up to 440 too.

Terry

Heck if I was there I'd volunteer just to say I got to drive a fire truck!

I know that they have gotten some volunteer firemen.  I "think" they are asking for firemen also.  The problem is they have to cover the fire houses and these fire fighters are working with next to no sleep/rest in 95* to 100* heat.  Yesterday the heat index was 105*.  Plus the heat from the fire.  I almost forgot about the humidity.  It is way up there!

There was a crawl across the TV screen just now that there is a heavy smoke warning for southeast Georgia and northeast Florida until 4PM.

Terry

UPDATE: 2 firefighters were caught in the fire and died.  Both had been with the US Forest Service as firemen for 10 years.  Two others were also hospitalized.