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Central Florida Fires -- Governor Bush Declares State of Emergency
- Thread starter prberk
- Start date
lawyergirl77
Active Member
Steve, does that mean that they didn't even run Fantasmic? While it wouldn't be as jaw-dropping, they could have dropped the lake on fire and the fireworks, and still put together a coherent and cool show.wdwmagic said:
lawyergirl77 said:
Fantasmic opened in October of that year, so just a few months after the pyro ban was in effect. I would imagine that if it happened again, Fantasmic, like IllumiNations, would continue to run, without the pyro elements.
I've just looked back through my records, and the pyro ban at WDW began on July 2 1998, and ran through to July 12 1998.
Wildfires under control but I-95 still closed in some parts
From the Orlando Sentinel today:
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news...051006,0,546304.story?coll=orl-home-headlines
Wildfires under control but I-95 still closed in some parts
Kristen Reed
Sentinel Staff Writer
May 10, 2006, 11:15 AM EDT
NEW SMYRNA BEACH -- Firefighters continue to have control over two forest fires in the New Smyrna Beach area and will continue efforts to prevent future flare ups, officials said this morning.
"The goal for today is we're going to improve our containment lines," said Heather Danenhower, spokeswoman for the incident command team. She said crews will widen lines around the fire to create a 30 to 40-foot buffer.
Officials are hoping rain will continue to fall, but without the added risk of lightning that could spark more flames. "It's mostly smolder at this point," Danenhower said.
Interstate 95 in Volusia County from Port Orange to Edgewater will remain closed until further notice. Many of the trees along the interstate are unstable because the brush fire burned out their root systems and forestry officials fear they could fall into the highway.
According to the Florida Highway Patrol website, State Road 520 is open from S.R. 528 to S.R. 524.
From the Orlando Sentinel today:
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news...051006,0,546304.story?coll=orl-home-headlines
Wildfires under control but I-95 still closed in some parts
Kristen Reed
Sentinel Staff Writer
May 10, 2006, 11:15 AM EDT
NEW SMYRNA BEACH -- Firefighters continue to have control over two forest fires in the New Smyrna Beach area and will continue efforts to prevent future flare ups, officials said this morning.
"The goal for today is we're going to improve our containment lines," said Heather Danenhower, spokeswoman for the incident command team. She said crews will widen lines around the fire to create a 30 to 40-foot buffer.
Officials are hoping rain will continue to fall, but without the added risk of lightning that could spark more flames. "It's mostly smolder at this point," Danenhower said.
Interstate 95 in Volusia County from Port Orange to Edgewater will remain closed until further notice. Many of the trees along the interstate are unstable because the brush fire burned out their root systems and forestry officials fear they could fall into the highway.
According to the Florida Highway Patrol website, State Road 520 is open from S.R. 528 to S.R. 524.
Here is a link to the Orlando Sentinel's photo gallery of the fires:
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/volusia/orl-newsmyrnafires-pg,0,2062074.photogallery
Paul
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/volusia/orl-newsmyrnafires-pg,0,2062074.photogallery
Paul
jmvd20
Well-Known Member
Does anyone living near Orlando have any updates on the fire situation there. I just did another google search and it seems that different news agencies have conflicting reports. One story said the fires were contained and under control while another said that more road closures were being announced due to the fires spreading :veryconfu :veryconfu
We will be flying down to WDW early Sunday A.M. - just hoping I can get an accurate update from someone who lives there, and is reliable - unlike the news :hammer:
We will be flying down to WDW early Sunday A.M. - just hoping I can get an accurate update from someone who lives there, and is reliable - unlike the news :hammer:
Number_6
Well-Known Member
jmvd20 said:
Brevard County still has the road closures that I mentioned in one of my previous posts daily from 5-9AM, and Volusia County is generally shutting down I-95 between SR-421 and SR-442. That actually stayed closed for a good amount of time today starting at 4AM and was still closed when I left at 2PM. Orlando itself seems to be doing okay for now. We haven't had much in the way of road closures due to fires here, but check www.fl511.com/ for information on road closures and the local television stations for fire specific information:
www.wftv.com/
www.wesh.com/
www.local6.com/
And remember, when checking news stories on those stations, make sure you are looking at the what time it was last updated. I've seen stories that hadn't been updated for two or three days on the main webpage before after they were no longer accurate.
Number_6
Well-Known Member
jmvd20 said:
Yeah, the Brevard County stuff is out by the Space Coast and you won't have to worry about it unless you are going to Cocoa Beach or the Kennedy Space Center(use SR-50 or SR-520 to get to those locations if you are headed that way at all). The Volusia County stuff you really won't have to worry about. I've only heard three reports of fires that were anywhere near Disney and they have been contained. One was a fire that was actually on a truck at Universal Orlando, one was across from the Renaissance Hotel at SeaWorld and one was on Disney property itself but seems to have not been too bad since I only heard about it from one of our members here.
boo52
Active Member
As of now, there is no plan to cut back or cancel any pyro. The stuff at the castle was cut for a performance issue. Disney pays a tax to Reedy Creek for fire service. So they are getting there moneys worth and have the man power to fight the stuff. Precautions have been taken with extra irrigation around the park in areas that may be affected. Like Steve said, Disney did cancel all pyro back in 1998. But we were a lot drier that year and IMO it was a political move because so many towns had cancelled there displays and were freaked out. It would have been bad press had Disney went ahead and been the only game in town for the 4th.
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news...1106may11,0,3600085.story?coll=orl-home-promo
Blaze forces indefinite closure of I-95 section
Northbound and southbound stretches in Volusia won't open until burned timber is removed.
Kristen Reed
Sentinel Staff Writer
May 11, 2006
NEW SMYRNA BEACH -- Fearing that charred trees will topple onto motorists, officials on Wednesday closed a 12-mile stretch of Interstate 95 in Volusia County indefinitely while they remove the timbers weakened by a massive brush fire.
Forestry officials will have to inspect and tag each vulnerable tree -- there could be hundreds or thousands -- wet them down and haul them away before I-95 can be reopened.
The closure only adds to the headaches for drivers as smoke and fog continue to close portions of I-95 in Brevard County, along with the BeachLine and State Road 407, from 5 a.m. each morning until conditions around brush fires there improve.
Officials say they have no guess as to when the four-lane highway in Volusia County -- from Port Orange to Edgewater northbound and Port Orange to S.R. 44 southbound -- will reopen.
"We're going to get some wind. These trees are unstable. They're going to fall," Chris Worrell, operations chief for the command team battling the Volusia brush fire, said while standing on a scorched stretch of the closed highway. "If we don't do this, there will be an accident on this road. It's not a matter of if, it's when."
Already, a few trees that burned in the now-smoldering wildfire have fallen onto the highway. On Wednesday, a few flames flared at the base of trees while officials outlined the risk.
The tall pine trees, palmettos and underbrush caught fire Sunday afternoon. The blaze jumped the interstate, eventually burning nearly 1,400 acres. Three homes were destroyed and more than 900 houses were evacuated overnight while firefighters fought the raging flames.
Officials have contained most of the brush fire, and crews were working to widen plowed buffers when they realized they had another problem.
"After the main fire goes, then the biggest threat . . . is falling trees and branches," said Timber Weller, with the Division of Forestry.
He said the fire can burn through the roots of the tree, burn through the trunk or burn out the ground underneath it.
Worrell said crews will test the organic material at the base of each tree that poses a threat to the highway and inspect the root base. If more than 20 percent of the roots are showing, the tree has to be removed.
Firefighters can't bulldoze the vulnerable timber because that could spark another fire. And each tree will have to be "mopped up" to rid it of any embers or smoldering bits deep inside it. They'll be individually inspected before they are hauled off the site.
"We don't want to take the fire somewhere," Worrell said.
Standing trees that seem fine now could still be susceptible with the dry conditions and insect infestation, he said.
Highway officials said they don't want to keep the road closed any longer than necessary but won't reopen it until they are sure it is safe. That stretch of I-95 has been closed intermittently for smoke problems.
Troopers are routing traffic onto U.S. Highway 1 and say motorists should check for road closures and detours by calling 511 from their cell phones or checking www.fhp.state.fl.us
Some motorists Wednesday got lost as they exited the highway, but traffic seemed to flow smoothly onto Dunlawton Avenue, which connects I-95 to U.S. 1.
Debra Santiago of Stuart became nervous when she was routed off of I-95 on her way to North Carolina.
"I thought, 'Uh-oh, I don't know where I'm going,' " she said. Santiago got confused driving around on U.S. 1 and then S.R. 44 before stopping at a gas station to ask for directions.
Jan McNutt wound up at the same Chevron on S.R. 44 for the same reason. The Denver woman was driving from Orlando to Ponte Vedra Beach and knew only one path: northbound on I-95.
"I just saw everyone turning, and I just followed them," she said. "I was totally thrown. I was like, 'Oh, no. Oh, no.' "
Meanwhile, fire crews continue to work on completely containing the brush fire and controlling hot spots.
"It's mostly smolder at this point," said incident command-team spokeswoman Heather Danenhower.
Crews want to widen plow lines buffering the fire to 30 to 40 feet, she said. And officials still are hoping for significant rainfall -- half an inch to 1 inch of rain each day for 10 days.
"We're not in the clear yet," Danenhower said. "We don't want people to let their guards down."
Officials continue to warn people to be smart about fire and not to toss cigarettes into the dry brush.
Also, Volusia County fire officials issued an outdoor-burn ban for unincorporated areas as well as DeBary, Lake Helen, Pierson and Oak Hill beginning Friday. It prohibits burning yard trash, household paper products, bonfires, campfires, warming fires and cooking fires. Outdoor cooking on a contained gas or charcoal grill is allowed.
Kristen Reed can be reached at kreed@orlandosentinel.com or 386-851-7924.
Copyright © 2006, Orlando Sentinel
Blaze forces indefinite closure of I-95 section
Northbound and southbound stretches in Volusia won't open until burned timber is removed.
Kristen Reed
Sentinel Staff Writer
May 11, 2006
NEW SMYRNA BEACH -- Fearing that charred trees will topple onto motorists, officials on Wednesday closed a 12-mile stretch of Interstate 95 in Volusia County indefinitely while they remove the timbers weakened by a massive brush fire.
Forestry officials will have to inspect and tag each vulnerable tree -- there could be hundreds or thousands -- wet them down and haul them away before I-95 can be reopened.
The closure only adds to the headaches for drivers as smoke and fog continue to close portions of I-95 in Brevard County, along with the BeachLine and State Road 407, from 5 a.m. each morning until conditions around brush fires there improve.
Officials say they have no guess as to when the four-lane highway in Volusia County -- from Port Orange to Edgewater northbound and Port Orange to S.R. 44 southbound -- will reopen.
"We're going to get some wind. These trees are unstable. They're going to fall," Chris Worrell, operations chief for the command team battling the Volusia brush fire, said while standing on a scorched stretch of the closed highway. "If we don't do this, there will be an accident on this road. It's not a matter of if, it's when."
Already, a few trees that burned in the now-smoldering wildfire have fallen onto the highway. On Wednesday, a few flames flared at the base of trees while officials outlined the risk.
The tall pine trees, palmettos and underbrush caught fire Sunday afternoon. The blaze jumped the interstate, eventually burning nearly 1,400 acres. Three homes were destroyed and more than 900 houses were evacuated overnight while firefighters fought the raging flames.
Officials have contained most of the brush fire, and crews were working to widen plowed buffers when they realized they had another problem.
"After the main fire goes, then the biggest threat . . . is falling trees and branches," said Timber Weller, with the Division of Forestry.
He said the fire can burn through the roots of the tree, burn through the trunk or burn out the ground underneath it.
Worrell said crews will test the organic material at the base of each tree that poses a threat to the highway and inspect the root base. If more than 20 percent of the roots are showing, the tree has to be removed.
Firefighters can't bulldoze the vulnerable timber because that could spark another fire. And each tree will have to be "mopped up" to rid it of any embers or smoldering bits deep inside it. They'll be individually inspected before they are hauled off the site.
"We don't want to take the fire somewhere," Worrell said.
Standing trees that seem fine now could still be susceptible with the dry conditions and insect infestation, he said.
Highway officials said they don't want to keep the road closed any longer than necessary but won't reopen it until they are sure it is safe. That stretch of I-95 has been closed intermittently for smoke problems.
Troopers are routing traffic onto U.S. Highway 1 and say motorists should check for road closures and detours by calling 511 from their cell phones or checking www.fhp.state.fl.us
Some motorists Wednesday got lost as they exited the highway, but traffic seemed to flow smoothly onto Dunlawton Avenue, which connects I-95 to U.S. 1.
Debra Santiago of Stuart became nervous when she was routed off of I-95 on her way to North Carolina.
"I thought, 'Uh-oh, I don't know where I'm going,' " she said. Santiago got confused driving around on U.S. 1 and then S.R. 44 before stopping at a gas station to ask for directions.
Jan McNutt wound up at the same Chevron on S.R. 44 for the same reason. The Denver woman was driving from Orlando to Ponte Vedra Beach and knew only one path: northbound on I-95.
"I just saw everyone turning, and I just followed them," she said. "I was totally thrown. I was like, 'Oh, no. Oh, no.' "
Meanwhile, fire crews continue to work on completely containing the brush fire and controlling hot spots.
"It's mostly smolder at this point," said incident command-team spokeswoman Heather Danenhower.
Crews want to widen plow lines buffering the fire to 30 to 40 feet, she said. And officials still are hoping for significant rainfall -- half an inch to 1 inch of rain each day for 10 days.
"We're not in the clear yet," Danenhower said. "We don't want people to let their guards down."
Officials continue to warn people to be smart about fire and not to toss cigarettes into the dry brush.
Also, Volusia County fire officials issued an outdoor-burn ban for unincorporated areas as well as DeBary, Lake Helen, Pierson and Oak Hill beginning Friday. It prohibits burning yard trash, household paper products, bonfires, campfires, warming fires and cooking fires. Outdoor cooking on a contained gas or charcoal grill is allowed.
Kristen Reed can be reached at kreed@orlandosentinel.com or 386-851-7924.
Copyright © 2006, Orlando Sentinel
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mrerk said:
I did EPCOT that day (so that I could see The American Adventure and hear The Voices of Liberty). It was a normal crowd. They did IllumiNations without the pyro part.
But what I most remember was the smell of smoke -- some days, and other days during that week it was completely fine, all dependent on the wind. When the wind was coming from the Northeast, the smoke smell was completely penetrating the air all day. I have never experienced anything else like it. And I can remember that smell to this day....
Paul