Rainfall Not Enough To Fully Extinguish Beulah, Santa Rosa Wildfires

May 18, 2020

While most of Escambia and Santa Rosa counties received rainfall, it has not been enough over the fire areas to truly extinguish either the Hurt Hammock or 5 Mile Swamp fires. The nearest weather station to Hurst Hammock is reporting 0.19 inches of rain Monday morning while the closest to 5 Mile Swamp shows less than 0.10. Neither amount is enough to declare these fires out for good. More rain is forecast today and later in the week.

Firefighters monitored the 5 Mile Swamp Fire throughout the night and will continue today as they patrol for any potential smoke issues or hot spots. The 2,215-acre fire is 97% contained and pockets of unburned vegetation remain in the thick swamp north of Interstate 10.

The Hurst Hammock Fire is 1,191 acres and 98% contained and crews are monitoring and patrolling it as well.

Motorists are encouraged to be on the lookout for smoke on the road anytime there’s a wildfire nearby. Drivers should treat the smoke as fog, turn on low-beam headlights and slow down. If conditions worsen, drivers should pull safely off the side of the road and turn on their hazard lights while waiting for visibility to improve.

Escambia, Santa Rosa and Okaloosa counties have enacted burn bans and the Florida Forest Service is not issuing burn authorizations. Residents are asked to call the non-emergency line for their respective area to report violations and 911 for emergency situations only.

Comments

One Response to “Rainfall Not Enough To Fully Extinguish Beulah, Santa Rosa Wildfires”

  1. Rebecca Corliss on May 18th, 2020 2:20 pm

    we live near the fairgrounds and our rain guage says that we got a little over an inch of rain. Interesting that those areas got a lot less than we did.

Written by William Reynolds · Filed Under News