Amid a “historic drought,” Florida Forest Service crews on April 16 continued battling a 400-acre blaze just east of Gainesville Regional Airport along State Road 26.
The Forest Service spent much of the day using several bulldozers to create fire lines in an effort to control the spread of the fire.
The Forest Service initially reported on April 15 that the blaze covered 30–35 acres in the Balu Forest, but by 6:35 p.m., the fire had grown to 400 acres.
“This fire we had last night was behaving like it was a wind-driven fire and there was no wind — a little breeze, that’s it,” said Ludie Bond, a wildlife mitigation specialist and spokesperson for the Florida Forest Service. “We’re thinking it’s because the fuels are so extremely dry.”
Bond said she was told by meteorologists with the National Weather Service’s Jacksonville office that drought conditions in the area have not been this bad since the late 1800s.
“It is beyond historic,” Bond said.
Forest Service crews battled the fire on April 15 in multiple ways, including with two U.S. Forest Service helicopters that made 22 water drops — about 22,000 gallons — onto the fire to stop its progression to the west and northwest. Two air tankers also made six large retardant drops to slow the fire’s spread.
Bond said the drops caused temporary flight restrictions around the Gainesville airport.
Firefighters with Alachua County Fire Rescue and the Windsor Fire Department were also on scene to protect nearby structures. Bond said the fire spread onto land owned by the St. Johns River Water Management District, which was also working to contain the fire.
The blaze forced officials to close part of State Road 26 for much of April 15 before reopening the roadway overnight.
By about 7:45 p.m. on April 16, the fire was down to about 300 acres and was about 60% contained, according to the Forest Service.
Alachua County is currently under a mandatory countywide burn ban. Dry soils, stressed vegetation, and elevated fire risk continue to create hazardous conditions, prompting officials to urge residents to use extreme caution and avoid all outdoor burning.
While the cause of the fire has not yet been determined, Bond said 80–90% of all wildfires nationwide are caused by humans.
“They are usually just carelessness — they are unintentional, people don’t really realize what they are doing that could start a fire,” she said.
Bond noted that it’s not just burning debris that can lead to a fire. She said activities such as parking on dry grass, welding, hitting a rock with a lawn mower blade, and hauling a trailer without a chain guard can all “throw a spark.”
Bond said the National Interagency Fire Center in Boise, Idaho, predicts a high wildfire risk across all of Florida through June.
“We hope the lightning doesn’t get here before the rain does,” she said.
This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: Historic drought fuels large wildfire near Gainesville Regional Airport
Reporting by Alan Festo, Gainesville Sun / The Gainesville Sun
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
