Fires Continue to Wreak Havoc Across Florida

By MIKE CLARY

July 3, 1998 12 AM PT

TIMES STAFF WRITER

MIMS, Fla. —

Facing the scorched-earth assault of Mother Nature, Mike Doherty and his garden hose seemed woefully overmatched. But there he was Thursday, on the roof of his family’s home, soaking the shingles as ash fell on his head and flames licked at the backyard.

“At this point,” said Doherty, 42, “I think all this is doing is making me feel better.”

Indeed, Florida remained aflame Thursday, and the outlook was grim. From near the Georgia state line in the north to the perimeter of the Kennedy Space Center in central Florida, brush fires burned out of control, consuming homes, jumping roadways and forcing at least 35,000 people from their homes. No deaths have been reported.

More than 125 miles of Interstate 95--the main north-south thoroughfare along the East Coast--remained closed to traffic from Jacksonville to Titusville, just south of here. The detours were nightmarish, forcing travelers to veer through Orlando and drive seven hours to complete a journey that normally would take just two.

So many other main highways in central and north Florida were closed by thick smoke and threatening fires that the first nighttime running of a NASCAR race at Daytona International Speedway--Saturday’s Pepsi 400--was canceled.

But tourism officials hastened to assure potential visitors to Florida that alternate routes were available. Disney World and other major attractions in the Orlando area are open and unthreatened by fires, officials said.

Still, “this is the worst fire situation we’ve ever had,” Gov. Lawton Chiles said during a tour of the area Thursday. “We’re having 90 to 100 new fires every day.”

Since Memorial Day, more than 1,900 fires have charred more than 280,000 acres--about 425 square miles--in a state that is usually midway through its rainy season by now.

But there has been little rainfall in Florida this spring and summer, and the high cirrus clouds overhead Thursday promised little relief. Neither did weather forecasters.

“It’s a tinderbox out there,” said Brevard County fire Lt. Jerry Comstock, one of scores of sweat-soaked and tired firefighters gathered around the fire station in the center of Mims, a tiny crossroads town that itself was under siege from smoke and temperatures nearing the 100-degree mark.

“We’re just trying to save life and property. Without rain, we have no hope of putting these fires out,” Comstock said.

Gusting winds spread acrid smoke widely, hanging a gray shroud over the eastern half of the Sunshine State and causing eyes to water and nostrils to burn as far south as West Palm Beach.

Overnight Wednesday and Thursday, at least 80 homes in the Ormond Beach area north of Daytona Beach and in the town of Scottsmoor on U.S. 1 north of Mims were destroyed. In Titusville, police were telling the city’s 40,000 residents to be ready to evacuate at a moment’s notice.

In the powder-dry pine and saw palmetto woods in this part of Florida, the fire was quick and capricious. Jay Thomson, 57, a retired teacher from Canada, said she had to leave her trailer home in Scottsmoor so quickly that she didn’t have time to find her cat, Andy, or take with her much more than the clothes on her back.

“I had to drive through flames on three sides to get here,” said Thomson, one of about 130 people who found emergency shelter set up by the American Red Cross at Astronaut High School in Titusville. “I had been breathing smoke for four weeks. It was time to go.”

In the Quail Haven neighborhood of expensive homes north of Mims, Jim Barrett was having a last look around his home of 10 years, a home he may not find standing today. His wife and two sons already had been evacuated.

“We were asked to leave days ago,” he said, turning on the sprinklers in what seemed a wishful gesture at best. “The kids were here yesterday, and took their valuables: their baby teeth, toys, pictures.”

He gazed over at the sprinkler spinning in the growing darkness. “I know,” said the 38-year-old Barrett, who works at Kennedy Space Center. “It’s something. But it’s not much against a fire this size and this hot.”

Also finding refuge in the high school was Martin King, 40, his wife, Kathi, and their two children. They had no idea Thursday afternoon whether their trailer home had escaped destruction. “I see on television that the gas station across the street was burned down, so I am not hopeful,” said King, who arrived here from Miami just 10 days ago to start a job as an aircraft mechanic.

Brevard County Fire Chief Mark Francesconi said local crews, aided by volunteers from as far away as Alaska, were hampered by lack of equipment.

“This is ugly. There are houses burning right now,” he said. “They’re short of resources.”

About 4,500 firefighters from 38 states and various federal agencies have been battling the wildfires for more than four weeks, but Chiles said no more equipment was available to those on the front lines.

Direct federal assistance to Florida for help in fighting the fires reached nearly $60 million Thursday. About $18 million of that has been set aside to transport 65 fire engines and crews from California on military planes.

“What was a bad situation turned out to be pretty much a nightmare yesterday,” added Florida Agriculture Commissioner Bob Crawford. “Unfortunately, today looks like it’ going to be even worse.”

Amid the bleak predictions, state emergency managers prepared to open more shelters. More firefighters and equipment were promised. And burned-out, displaced victims such as Thomson were forced to rethink the future.

“I could go to California, but they have earthquakes,” she said. “I could go to Iowa but they have tornadoes. I could go to North Carolina, but they have Jesse Helms.

“So maybe it’s time to go back home to Canada.”

Researcher Anna M. Virtue contributed to the story from Miami.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Fire, No Rain

Since Memorial Day, more than 1,900 fires have burned across Florida, damaging or destroying about 100 homes.

Total Florida acres burned

Average year: 112,000

This year: 280,000

Acreage burned, by county

5,000+

1,001-5,000

101-1000