County Line Fire Update April 16, 2012 8:00pm
Incident: County Line Fire Wildfire
Released: 4/16/2012
Current Status
-Management of the County Line Fire was delegated to the Southern Area Type 2 Incident Management Team led by Incident Commander Michael Dueitt on Tuesday, April 10.
-The Osceola National Forest has an extensive prescribed fire program that helps prevent large wildfires. Due to ongoing drought conditions in Florida, the Forest has been unable to conduct prescribed burns as frequently as needed. This is not only contributing to the severity of the wildfire, but also to the amount of smoke being generated.
- Today, fire crews continued to improve and strengthen containment lines. Personnel were alert for smoke and fire around the outside edges of the fire. The strategic burning operations to remove pockets of accumulated fuel were successful. Several pockets of dry fuel in the southwest portion of the fire area had been worrisome to fire managers and were greatly reduced today by the strategic burn. This increased the reliability of the containment lines.
- Firefighters were alert for any new fire starts not associated with this fire.
- Yesterday, Initial Attack crews responded to a new fire on the north side of State Route 90 at the Baker and Columbia County line which was quickly contained at .1 acre.
Planned Events
Continue to reinforce containment lines and be alert to spot-overs and new fires.
Estimate Acreage
34,936
Containment
75 percent
Cause / Date Started
The fire started on Thursday, April 5. The cause was lightning.
Personnel and Equipment
304 personnel are on the fire. Equipment includes 31 fire engines, 27 dozers, and 5 helicopters.
Participating Agencies & Cooperators
USDA Forest Service, Florida Forest Service, John Bethea State Forest, The Langdale Company, Okefenokee NWR, Greater Okefenokee Association of Landowners, The Forestry Company, Columbia County, Baker County, Georgia Forestry Commission, Baker Co. Fire Dept., Florida Highway Patrol, Florida Dept. of Transportation, Columbia County Fire Dept
Restrictions and Closures
There is a Temporary Flight Restriction in place for a 7-mile radius from the fire's center up to 3,000 ft.
Fire Weather
A weak frontal boundary will slowly approach the region today with light southerly flow over the fire area. The front is expected to stall in the area Wednesday with a slight chance of showers and thunderstorms into Thursday
Smoke
Based on smoke modeling at the County Line Fire Incident Command Post, we can expect to see smoke crossing over I-75 from near the state line to around Valdosta Tonight into Tuesday morning. Smoke can create hazardous driving conditions, particularly in the early mornings when smoke mixes with fog. Drivers should slow down, turn on low beams and obey any advisories. Visit: http://www.srh.noaa.gov/jax/ n=hourlyforecast
