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EVENT: WILDFIRES 1998

DATE / TIME: July 5, 1998 @ 0900 hrs

EOC ACTIVATION LEVEL: 4

LOCAL STATE OF EMERGENCY DECLARATION: ORIGINALLY ISSUED JUNE 22, 1998 AT 1 P.M. RETROACTIVE TO JUNE 20, 1998

DATE OF EXPIRATION: Extended an additional seven days. Revised date of expiration is now July 11, 1998.

CONTACT NUMBERS FOR COUNTY EOC AND PIO: (904) 254-1500

COUNTY ESF-5 FAX: (904) 258-4096

SUMMARY OF FIRE ACTIVITY

LOCATION(S) OF FIRES TO DATE: FIRES LOCATED THROUGHOUT THE COUNTY

DUE TO NUMBER OF FIRES AND FREQUENCY OF OCCURRENCE, THIS REPORT FOCUSES UPON NEW FIRE EVENTS ONLY AND WILL REFER TO THEM IN GENERAL TERMS OF LOCATION.

The major areas of utmost concern at this time are as follows:

• Flagler County Fires:  Firefighters in Volusia County are undertaking strategic actions in the event that a wind shift occurs and brings the Flagler fires back across the Volusia County line. Flagler County EOC is receiving mutual aid assistance in fighting these fires. Continued monitoring for additional impact for Volusia County resources, fire fighters and/or shelters.
• Law Camp: Fire has broken out on the western side.
• Quail Ridge:  Crews are working this area. This fire has burned approximately 7,000 acres. This fire has advanced to the South. These crews are still working in this area. Portions of this fire are still hot.
• Lafayette fire:  This fire continues to threaten developed areas including Plantation Pines.
• Ranchette Road:  This fire is not currently hot. Crews are present and working.
• Mary Farms fire:  This is a flare up of previous fire activity in the area.  This fire has consumed approximately, 3500 acres and has advanced Southeast. However the fire has been contained. A crew is currently working this fire.

Other fires are under surveillance and are continuing to be assessed for further action:

• Brevard County fire: This fire has advanced to the north and has crossed Maytown/Osteen Road west of I-95. However this fire poses no threat to developed areas.
• Indian Lake Road area fire(s):  Are presently contained.
• County Road 3 area fire:  Begun by lightning 30 Jun 98. Poses no threat to structures. Crews are present.
• Shunz Road fire:  Poses no threat to structures. Crews are present.

ACREAGE OF FIRES CURRENTLY ACTIVE: ESTIMATED TOTAL ACREAGE, APPROXIMATELY: 121,000 acres

SUPPRESSION EFFORTS UNDERWAY: The policy is to protect life first. Protection of structures will be prioritized based on field conditions. A unified command consisting of Volusia County and municipalities has been coordinated with Division of Forestry. It has been determined that some fires may be suspicious in nature. Air reconnaissance flights are being flown to map fire locations by the U.S. Forest Service out of New Smyrna Beach and DeLand airports. Firefighters plan a controlled burn around the Indian Lake Road area fire(s). Several controlled burn operations were conducted.

MUTUAL AID:

• State Fire Marshal’s Office:  8 people on duty.
• National Guard: 130 individuals from the First of the 265th ADA Battalion have arrived for firefighting duty and have been reassigned to other counties. An additional 50 personnel from the Orlando unit will be arriving 4 July 1998. A large tent is available just west of I-95 on State Road 40 to provide rest and food for guardsmen, firefighters and any other support personnel. 56 individuals and heavy equipment from the 3rd of the 116th FA Battalion (Arcadia, FL.) Will arrive in Volusia County at 1400 hrs. This is to include 10 HummVs, 4 (2 ½ ton trucks), 2 (5- ton trucks), 4 Hemmits (heavy duty utility truck).
• Federal Incident Command (Blue Team):   38 person overhead team arrived on Saturday (6/27). They brought 5 "hot shot" teams which consist of 20 personnel per team, and included a Type I helicopter equipped with a 2000 gal water tank, 2 Type II helicopters and 1 tactical aircraft for aerial spotting. The U.S. Forest Service/DOF have sent 268 firefighters. They have provided 16 tractor plow units and 30 engines.
• Public Information Office: PIO’s from across the state are sending individuals to provide assistance. The latest news and information on fires and evacuations in Volusia County is currently available on Volusia County’s World Wide Web page at http://www.volusia.org .
• Salvation Army: Responsible for all field food as of Monday, 6/29/98. A warehouse for storage & distribution has been established at the Daytona Mall (Nova Road).
• US Marine Corps: Personnel from Camp Lejuene remain with the reinstalled temporary bridge on Rima Ridge Road. The intent of the bridge is to facilitate heavy equipment traffic between US 92 and State Road 40 in the event I-95 and other north-south arteries are congested or closed to traffic.
• RAPID RESPONSE TEAM (RRT) MEMBERS: David Javiter from Lee County is serving in the EOC and David Donnolly from Alachua County is working with the Fire Command Planning.

OTHER:

• CEOC currently has personnel from State Division of Emergency Management; State Division of Forestry; National Guard; Florida Dept. Of Law Enforcement; Florida Highway Patrol; and Florida Department of Transportation.
• Representatives from SBA and FEMA are in the County to conduct damage assessment.

INJURIES / CASUALTIES

INJURIES (MINOR) TO DATE: 10 (firefighters) + 1 fire contractor

FATALITIES TO DATE: 0

MISSING PERSONS TO DATE: 0

STATUS OF MISSING PERSONS: N/A

PROPERTY / INFRASTRUCTURE IMPACTED

• HOMES THREATENED: ±29,000 homes threatened in various areas around Volusia County including 20,000 homes in the Daytona Beach and Ormond Beach area. Until reports start coming from the field, exact damages will remain unknown.
• *HOMES DESTROYED/DAMAGED:   2 homes destroyed and 10 mobile homes damaged in Ormond Beach.
• *BUSINESSES THREATENED:  5
• *BUSINESSES DAMAGED/DESTROYED: 4 businesses in the Ormond Beach area were destroyed.
• *OTHER STRUCTURES THREATENED:   Unknown
• *OTHER STRUCTURES DAMAGED: Unknown
• *OTHER STRUCTURES DESTROYED: 15 (miscellaneous hunting camp structures)
• *VEHICLES DAMAGED: 3 (two automobiles and a boat)
• *VEHICLES DESTROYED: Unknown

* Data is preliminary and is subject to revision base upon continuing field evaluations.

INFRASTRUCTURE IMPACTED:

• Communications: Fire breaks have been installed around a Bellsouth telecommunications tower in the Ormond Beach area. Overall, telephone communications on the east side of the county are very congested. Additional telephone lines at the CEOC are now installed. Radio communications continues to be very heavy.
• Power: FPL reports approximately 40 customers are still without power in the Rodeo area. Clay Power is restoring power to ten customers in 9 Mile Point Area. FPL continues to work on power restoration. They have requested that the FDOT remove trees adjacent to their power lines on the south side of US 92 to prevent interruptions of service.
• Transportation: City of Ormond Beach Airport remains closed.

ROAD CLOSURES:

• All roads entering Flagler County are closed at the county line.
• Interstate 95 from Brevard County (Beeline Expressway) to St. Augustine (I-95 Southbound from Flagler County to I-4 is Open to Evacuation Traffic Only).
• US 1, South of Kennedy Parkway
• 9 Mile Point Road, from CR 3 to Lake George (Pierson area)

EVACUATIONS / SHELTERS

AREA(S) EVACUATED: No re-entry into any mandatory areas at this time. (** Except as noted with ID and expected to leave the area after evaluation of residence/business)

Voluntary Evacuation Areas:

• Aberdeen Subdivision (Ormond Beach) ( ID required for re-entry)
• Airport Road (Ormond Beach)
• Airport Road north to Durrance Lane excluding Bear Creek Subdivision
• Bear Creek Subdivision (Ormond Beach)
• Breakaway Trails Subdivision (Ormond Beach)
• Broadwater Subdivision
• Cone Road & Appaloosa Lane Area (west of Ormond Beach)
• Coquina Point Subdivision (Ormond Beach)
• Cow Creek Road from SR 442 South to Volco Road (West of the City of Edgewater)
• Daytona Pines, West end of Fleming Avenue (West of Ormond Beach)
• Derbyshire Road/Jimmy Ann Drive area (Daytona Beach)
• Florida Shores Subdivision, Edgewater, South of SR 442, from Hibiscus west to City Limits
• Hunting Camp/Rasley Road/Archie Road (Lake Ashby Area)
• Indigo Lakes Subdivision (Daytona Beach)
• Jimmy Ann Drive area, from Mason Ave. To LPGA Blvd. (Daytona Beach)
• LPGA residential community (Daytona Beach)
• Mason Avenue, north side only Bill France Boulevard to Williamson Boulevard (Daytona)
• North of Ormond Beach airport including Pineland Trails, Hope/Timothy Streets
• North Tomoka Farms Road, north of US 92 (Daytona Beach)
• Ormond Greens Subdivision
• Ormond Lakes Subdivision (Ormond Beach)
• Pierson - East Washington Avenue from to Pine St. to the Flagler County line
• Pine Trails Subdivision
• Quail Ranch Road (Lake Ashby Area)
• Ranchette Road, South of SR 44 near New Smyrna Beach
• Rima Ridge (west of Ormond Beach)
• River Bend, (South of SR 40/Booth Road)
• Rodeo Road, West of Ormond Beach
• Spring Meadows Subdivision (Ormond Beach)
• The Falls Subdivision (Ormond Beach)
• Town and Country Trailer Park southwest corner of Bellevue and Tomoka Farms Road
• Tymber Creek Subdivision, west of powerline
• U.S. 1 North of Airport Road (within Ormond Beach city limits)
• West of Derbyshire, North of LPGA (Daytona Beach)
• West of I-95 within Ormond Beach City Limits

Mandatory Evacuations:

• Hunter's Ridge Subdivision in Ormond Beach

NUMBER OF HOUSEHOLDS EVACUATED: Cumulative 29,000. In the mandatory evacuation areas, an estimated 250 households have been evacuated.

NUMBER OF EVACUEES: Unknown; however, estimated at several thousand.

SHELTERS OPEN:

• Atlantic High School, New Smyrna Beach High School (Special Needs)
• Babe James Youth Center (New Smyrna Beach)
• County Fairgrounds, DeLand (Pet Shelter)
• Daytona International Speedway
• DeLand YMCA
• First United Methodist Church (Orange City)
• Mount Bethel Baptist, Daytona Beach
• New Smyrna Beach Recreation Center
• Seabreeze High School
• Spruce Creek Elementary, Port Orange
• Spruce Creek High, Port Orange
• Temple Israel

SHELTER POPULATION: 448 in Volusia, as of 09:00 - July 5

SPECIAL NEEDS POPULATION: 50

SHELTERS ON STANDBY:

• City Gym (New Smyrna Beach)
• First Baptist Church of Oak Hill
• First Baptist Church of Pierson
• First United Methodist Church, Ormond Beach
• Mainland High School
• New Smyrna Beach High School
• Sugar Mill Elementary, Port Orange (PSN only)
• Sweetwater Elementary

BILLETING FOR SUPPORT CREWS:

FEDERAL BLUE TEAM

• DELAND HIGH SCHOOL - 200 CREW MEMBERS
• DELAND MIDDLE SCHOOL - 104 CREW MEMBERS
• VOLUSIA COUNTY FAIRGROUNDS-FEDERAL OVERHEAD SOUTHERN BLUE TEAM

MUTUAL AID

• ERAU - 140 CREW MEMBERS
• STETSON - @ CAPACITY 300+ CREW MEMBERS

MISCELLANEOUS:

STATUS OF FIREWORKS BAN AND OTHER BURN CONTROLS: Volusia County passed an ordinance on Thursday, June 25, 1998, banning the sale and use of fireworks in unincorporated and incorporated areas. All vendors including those who sell fireworks in tent sales have voluntarily agreed not to sell any fireworks to individuals in Volusia County. Firework shows have been voluntarily canceled in the cities of DeLand, DeBary, Deltona, Port Orange, Edgewater, Ormond Beach. Holly Hill has issued an emergency order banning fireworks. Pierson has also passed an ordinance to ban fireworks. The Governor has issued a statewide ban on fireworks.

FINANCIAL: Daily costs are estimated at $155,000 per day excluding state-wide mutual aid and additional expenditures from municipalities. The Federal Government has declared Volusia County a disaster area and has pledged to cover 75% of local municipal firefighting cost. All First Union Banks are taking monetary donations for the Volusia County Fire Relief Fund. Cash donations will be put directly into a special account specifically for firefighting efforts.

FEDERAL OVERHEAD SOUTHERN BLUE TEAM: Efforts are underway to facilitate the transition from "mutual aid" to the Federal Overhead Team. Resources (food, lodging, etc.) are being secured, in cooperation with federal representatives during this period. Incident Command Post has been established at the Volusia County Fairgrounds on SR 44, east of I-4 and the City of DeLand.

FEEDING: The Salvation Army has continuing responsibility for feeding firefighters and evacuees.

SPECIAL EVENTS: The Speedway has decided to postpone the PEPSI 400 scheduled for July 4th until October 17th.

WEATHER REPORT: Winds are expected to be northwest 5-10 mph in the morning. Winds will shift to the east as the sea breeze develops. There is a 40% chance of rain.

SUPPORT: There will be a communications facility set up for the Volusia County Fairgrounds on 4 July 1998. The Speedway has been established as a logistical staging area for incoming federal and state resources to support Volusia and surrounding counties. State Division of Emergency Management contact is Eric Gentry at (850) 509-9047.

DONATIONS: There is not a shortage of any supplies reported at this point in time. All First Union Banks are taking monetary donations for the Volusia County Fire Relief Fund. Cash donations will be put directly into a special account specifically for firefighting efforts.

ESTIMATED LOSS: Estimated value of loss structures (residential and commercial) to date is $2 million dollars. Preliminary estimated value of timber loss is $60 - $70 million.

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