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Volusia County's Own Armageddon
Introduction
The wildfires that torched vast areas of Florida during June and early July of 1998 were one of the greatest environmental disasters ever to strike the Sunshine State. Only massive Category 4 or Category 5 hurricanes (such as Hurricane Andrew in 1992) have caused as much economic and environmental damage. For a onemonth period, while the fires burned largely out of control, a heavy blanket of smoke and smog engulfed huge areas of the state. Particularly hard hit were the communities along the 1-95 corridor between Cocoa Beach and St. Augustine. At the center of the disaster were the eastern cities and towns of Volusia County. As the fires intensified in June, thick smoke obscured the sun, even in the middle of the day. People with pre-existing lung and heart conditions, including young children with asthma, found it increasingly difficult to breathe. At first requiring the services primarily of firefighters, public works personnel, and the police, this disaster suddenly became a public health threat that summoned the expertise of medical and environmental health staff. As the fires intensified, so did the role played by the Volusia County environmental health staff.
Volusia County's Own Armageddon-A Time Line of Events
While movie patrons enjoyed the opening of the movie Armageddon in theaters everywhere, a Volusia County theater was evacuated, and patrons got to experience first hand east central Florida's own version of Armageddon-wildfires.
The central Florida wildfires of 1998 began in the first week of June with the Flagler Estates fire in south St. John's County. The fires then spread to Brevard, Flagler, Putnum, Seminole, Orange, and Volusia counties, where they were battled for the next month. East central Florida was experiencing drought conditions, and the danger level for fire was high. Lightning strikes started most of the fires, but some fires were determined to have been set by arsonists.
On June 14, 1998, in the second week of the fires, Agriculture Commissioner Bob Crawford ordered Florida's Division of Forestry to go to a Readiness Level 4 (second most serious level). The weather conditions were not improving, and the potential for the fires to spread was increasing. At this point, 54 homes had burned in the wildfires. Five hundred firefighters and...