Smoke from muck fire still pouring in

No property is threatened, but it's irritating folks who live or work near Little Road.

By JODIE TILLMAN
Published July 3, 2007

Smoke blankets the surrounding area Monday afternoon as Florida Division of Forestry Pasco area supervisor Dave Fogler walks along a muck fire caused by lightning that has been burning in a dried 90-acre lake at Starkey Park in New Port Richey for about a week.
	[Times photo: Brendan Fitterer]

ADVERTISEMENT [Times photo: Brendan Fitterer] Water flows out of a hose from a surrounding well-field pipeline at a rate of 700,000 gallons per day into a dry 90-acre lake in Starkey Park that has been the site of a week-long muck fire caused by lightning. Division of Forestry Pasco area supervisor Dave Fogler estimates that to cover the smoldering lake with one inch of water it requires 2.5 million gallons.

NEW PORT RICHEY - A fire smoldering below 90 acres of the Starkey Wellfield continues to send smoke into neighborhoods and shopping centers near Little Road.

Lightning sparked the muck fire in a dried-up pond a week ago, about a half mile south of the entrance to the J.B. Starkey Wilderness Park.

The smoke has been especially bad on humid days, when air has been stagnant, said Pasco Fire Rescue Assistant Chief Mike Ciccarello.

Though the fire is not a threat to any property owners, he said, the county has received complaints about the smoke from people who live or work along Little Road.

Recreation users at Starkey Park should be careful, too, he said.

"If you're sensitive to smoke ... you shouldn't be in that area, " he said.

The Division of Forestry is handling the Starkey Wellfield fire, one of nearly 10 wildfires burning in Pasco County, according to state officials.

Muck, rich soil consisting of decomposing plant or animal matter, becomes flammable when groundwater levels get too low.

These fires are particularly dangerous because they can bring down trees from the roots, thus providing more fuel, said Don Ruths, a spokesman with the Division of Forestry.

Workers initially tried saturating the fire by using a helicopter to dump thousands of gallons of water on it, Ruths said.

But there is an obvious challenge to dealing with underground fires: "You don't have any idea of where it's going, " he said. Not until you see where it flares up.

Workers determined the borders of the fire and are now working on a more complicated solution.

They built a 4-inch main into a nearby swamp and are pumping water into the 90-acre area. That is, they are replenishing the pond.

This is not the first time the Starkey Wellfield has been the scene of a muck fire. In 1994, the Southwest Florida Water Management District set fire to clear 40 acres of brush, and accidentally ignited deep layers of organic muck.

Jodie Tillman can be reached at 727 869-6247 or jtillman@sptimes.com

[Last modified July 2, 2007, 21:40:51]