Fires can easily cross county lines

Flagler County is bracing for another day battling blazes from more than a dozen active wildfires and brush fires according to a report received by Historic City News this morning.

Palm Coast firefighters and Flagler County firefighters spent much of the past two days and into last night combating a major wildfire near Espanola along the border with St. Johns County.

The area is populated with thick, dry woods; hardwoods, oaks, palmettos and pine farms.

Reports from Communications Manager Carl Laundrie yesterday indicated that Flagler Estates, south of Hastings, will be spared — however, rough estimates of the mile-long fire place it at 200 acres plus, and “growing fast,” Don Petito, Flagler County’s fire chief, said. “It’s heading northwest.”

At this point, everything hinges on changing shifts in wind direction; which easily carry sparks from tree to tree.

Drought conditions in the area have made it easy for fires to kindle, according to the Florida Division of Forestry. Yesterday, at the request of fire officials, commissioners adopted an emergency resolution and order reinstituting a countywide “burn ban” in St. Johns County.

Photo credits: © 2011 Historic City News contributed photograph by Flagler County Fire Department