7NJ1002A0513 7NJ1002A0513 ZALLCALL 20 23:49:58 05/12/07 B

10A Sunday, May 13, 2007 The Daytona Beach News-Journal 11A
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1A: BURNING QUESTION
R
The Fire Day By Day
EARTH, WINDS & FIRES
Forestry officials are still
unsure of how it started, but
throughout the past two weeks,
flames in southern Flagler
County rose quickly into what
is now called the Airport Road
fire. The News-Journals
reporters and photographers
have spent each day since the
fire broke out May 1 as close to
the flames as they could get.
Below, is a timeline of how the
fire grew and what we saw
along its edges.
WEEK 1
Tuesday, May 1: Around 2 p.m.,
state Division of Forestry pilot
Leige Higginbotham sees a 3-acre
fire starting as he flies his plane
over swampy land northwest of
the Volusia-Flagler county line. He
calls for tractor plows to drive a
fire line around the area. By the
time they arrive, the fire has
grown to 20 acres, said Stephen
Lloyd, cooperative forestry
assistance coordinator for the
Division of Forestry.
Wednesday, May 2: Fire expands
to a 300-acre blaze overnight.
Evacuation orders are issued,
then canceled, for 147 residents of
the Rima Ridge neighborhood
along the southern edge of Flagler
County. By the end of the day the
fire is 1,500 acres. The rural
community also includes 202
homes in Volusia County.
Thursday, May 3: Fire grows to
2,200 acres into the Relay Wildlife
Management Area in rural Flagler
County. Meanwhile, other brush
fires break out across Florida.
Gov. Charlie Crist declares a state
of emergency, opening the door
for federal assistance. Locally, 55
firefighters and 15 from the
Division of Forestry are deployed.
The fire is 40 percent contained.
Friday, May 4: Fire encompasses
3,700 acres. An incident team is
called in from the Florida Division
of Forestry, drawing firefighters
from across the state. Strike
teams arrive at 6 p.m. to help
strategize ways to contain the fire
as bulldozers scrape trees and
shrubs away to build firebreaks.
Containment estimates are 60
percent. This figure represents
how much of the perimeter of the
fire is considered unlikely to jump
over the firebreak.
Saturday, May 5: Fire swells to
5,500 acres, and there are 150
firefighters now battling the blaze.
Containment drops to 40 percent.
Sunday May 6: Fire is now 6,500
acres. It is still 40 percent
contained. An afternoon
thunderstorm helps firefighters
rein in the blaze, and it does not
grow.
WEEK 2
Monday, May 7: A cold front with
wind gusts of up to 30 miles per
hour moves in, making forestry
officials nervous the fire will grow.
Firefighters hold the perimeter
lines, and the blaze stands at
6,500 acres. Division of Forestry
spokesman Timber Weller worries
embers will be carried through
the air and reignite brittle trees.
The Division of Forestry issues a
Red Flag Alert, which is rarely
done, because fire conditions
were off the chart. County
officials make shelters available.
But the blaze does not grow, and
no evacuations are ordered.
Tuesday, May 8: Fire jumps to
6,800 acres in size only because
foresters want to burn 300 acres
so it does not become fuel for the
smoldering trees. They begin
lessening the potential for
evacuations. There are now 206
firefighters working to spray a
solution of water and fire
retardant on trees and bushes,
producing a plume of smoke.
Wednesday, May 9: Fire
containment increases to 50
percent, but the fires size does
not change. Crist speaks at the
Flagler County airport and then
heads south to tour the fire. Two
National Guard Black Hawk
helicopters are stationed at the
Flagler Airport in case they are
needed for assistance with the
Flagler and Bradford County fires.
Thursday, May 10: Containment
increases to 60 percent;
evacuations become less likely.
Friday, May 11: Geographic
informational system mapping
helps the Division of Forestry get
a better sense of the fires size,
and it is downgraded to 6,100
acres. Containment decreases to
45 percent, and evacuations
become less of a possibility. Later
in the day, it is adjusted to 6,800
acres and 60 percent
containment. There are 164
firefighters assigned to the blaze.
Saturday, May 12: With calmer
winds, the fire stays at 6,800
acres and is 65 percent
contained.
Staff Writer Janette Neuwahl
News-Journal photos/DAVID MASSEY
MONDAY, MAY 7: Small patches of dry brush
still burn inside the fire lines in Flagler County. News-Journal/JUSTIN YURKANIN
SUNDAY, MAY 6:
A PV2 plane from the
Florida Division of
Forestry, above,
drops fire retardant
on the 6,500-acre
brush fire near Rima
Ridge.
MONDAY, MAY 7:
At right, Volusia
County Sheriffs dep-
uties stand by as a
fire helicopter col-
lects water from a re-
tention pond off Hand
Avenue before flying
back to dump it on a
fast-moving brush
fire, which broke out
north of Strickland
Range Road and east
of Clyde Morris
Boulevard, in Day-
tona Beach.
News-Journal/JIM TILLER
News-Journal photos/DAVID MASSEY
WEDNESDAY, MAY 9: Flagler County Fire Rescues Lt. Elizabeth Boone pulls the hose as Jason Forte wraps it onto the brush truck at the scene of a 13.5-acre brush fire near Espanola. The fire was in such a remote location that
the initial attack on the fire was led by Flagler County Emergency Services Fireflight Helicopter on Monday.
MONDAY, MAY 7: A Flagler County Fire Rescue worker gets a break for lunch at the Rima Ridge fire station.
WEDNESDAY,
MAY 2:
Units arrive at
the Rima Ridge
fire station, left,
on the first day
of the wildfire
that was to be-
come the Air-
port Road fire.
FRIDAY, MAY 11:
Flagler County
Public Works em-
ployees, right, fill
their trucks with
water from the
tanker during
mop-up opera-
tions inside the
perimeter of the
Airport Road fire. FRIDAY, MAY 11: A large alligator relaxes in a patch of green grass inside the fire lines in Flagler County.

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