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The burned trees must be removed from the median, and fences must be repaired to keep cattle off the road.
By ED QUIOCO
© St. Petersburg Times, published February 26, 2001
A 10-mile stretch of Interstate 4 will remain closed at least until Tuesday, giving fire crews another day to secure the roadway in Polk County.
Two wildfires burning about 10,500 acres have kept I-4 closed between exits 20 and 23 since Feb. 17, and officials previously had hoped to reopen it this morning. "We have one more day, tomorrow, to make that highway safe," Division of Forestry spokesman Wayne Jones said Sunday.
Even if the highway is opened Tuesday morning, it could be short-lived if heavy smoke drifts in again and impairs drivers' vision, said Timber Weller, a Division of Forestry wildfire mitigation specialist.
Fire crews were finishing work on the I-4 stretch late Sunday, but workers still have to repair fire-damaged fences so cattle won't roam onto the highway, Weller said.
The road opening also has been delayed by towering cypress trees in the median that have fallen on a half-mile stretch of I-4 between exit 22 and U.S. 27, Weller said. After the fire jumped to the median, flames burned the muck soil -- a thick layer of decayed plant material -- that supported the trees, causing them to fall, Weller said.
"It looked like pickup sticks there for a day or two," Weller said. "After the surface fire is stopped, the most dangerous thing out there is those falling trees. There is nothing you can do and there is no way to tell when it is going to happen."
The extra day also will give firefighters Ashley Teat and Grady Gilbert more time to put out any "hot spots" along the highway with their water truck.
"Life is more important than having a road open," said Teat, a Division of Forestry firefighter from Apalachicola.
Sunday afternoon, smoke still drifted from smoldering underbrush within 10 feet of the highway, and charred stumps and tree branches were piled in the highway's median. Pine and cypress trees on either side of the highway were browned and ash covered the ground.
Firefighters finished building a 3,000-foot pipeline on Saturday to carry a steady stream of water onto smoldering muck in the I-4 median. The pipeline was pumping 30,000 gallons per hour into the half-mile area.
"There's not much we can do but flood it," Weller said.
The fires in the rain-starved Green Swamp, about 30 miles southwest of Orlando, were feeding partly on swamp muck, which could smolder for months. Authorities believe the Stagecoach blaze began when a resident started an illegal fire.
In addition to the heavy smoke, fallen trees and damaged fences, the road also was closed for the safety of fire crews working on the highway, Weller said.
"We can't allow people to drive out there at 70 mph while crews are still out there," Weller said.
- Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.