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n a day when Florida's war against fire sputtered in stalemate,
Mike Luddeni set a sprinkler on the roof of his Volusia County
house, tore away flammable brush outside, and warily eyed the
nearby plume of black smoke.
| Florida on fire More coverage from the pages of the St. Petersburg Times. |
Across fire-scarred Brevard, Volusia and Flagler counties, exhausted firefighters and homeowners felt the same mixture of menace and hope.
For a second straight day, the weather cooperated: Humidity remained high, cool sea breezes from the east slowed the fires' march, and a sprinkling of rain fell. With a statewide ban in effect, there was no evidence that July 4 fireworks had sparked new blazes. No homes or businesses were reported destroyed by Sunday evening.
But the flames continued. Scattered rains were too sparse to douse them.
"The fires are not all out. They are just better managed," said Joe Meyers, director of Florida's Division of Emergency Management.
"We've got the upper hand, but that could change at any time," said Rich Wieser, public information officer for Flagler County emergency management. "Mother Nature has all the say in this."
More than 100 miles of Interstate 95 remained closed Sunday, and about 1,700 people stayed in 26 temporary shelters Saturday night.
In Volusia County, fire officials reopened one 150-home subdivision, but briefly ordered another evacuated before the threat subsided.
More than 40,000 Flagler County residents who responded to a mandatory countywide evacuation were told they would have to wait at least until today before returning home. "We still have a very unsafe situation," said Craig Fugate of the Division of Emergency Management. "We are asking for one more day."
"Yesterday we lost some 25-30 homes (in Flagler) but actually, we dodged a real bullet," Gov. Lawton Chiles said. "We were afraid yesterday morning that we literally could lose the whole county."
For some, Sunday proved to be a day of joy and gratitude. For the first time since Wednesday, residents of the 150-home Hunters Ridge subdivision in Volusia County were allowed back home.
Fire officials convened a community meeting for the returning neighborhood Sunday afternoon. Three hundred residents appeared and showed their appreciation for firefighters by interrupting the discussion half a dozen times with standing ovations.
Ormand Beach Fire Chief Barry Baker had a sobering response. "If conditions don't change, this could happen again." He also warned residents to watch for displaced rattlesnakes and other wildlife that could slither into their houses.
Jeff Paro, 39, was relieved to be going home with his wife, Margot, and their 2-year-old son, John. "We were thinking the worst on Thursday," he said. "We didn't think we'd have a subdivision."
Even John seemed to grasp the seriousness of their plight, Margot said. "He would keep saying, "Home, home, home, home.' He wants his home. He wants his crib. He wants his dog."
Elsewhere, residents wondered if their homes would survive.
Despite the directions to evacuate his home in Volusia County's Plantation Pines subdivision Sunday afternoon, Luddeni planned to stand in his yard and aim a thick hose at the flames if they advanced too close to the house. A short time later, the evacuation order was lifted.
Alice Kinnell followed the order to evacuate Flagler County. She left in a 17-person, nine-car caravan with other family members, eventually landing at the Daytona Beach Comfort Inn, which is filled with other Flagler residents.
"We're with family and we know everyone is fine," she said.
But they struggled with the uncertainty and practical difficulties. Pizza on Saturday night cost $120. Going to work was a problem because no one brought work clothes. Children in the family sensed the tension, other family members said.
"My kids were a wreck," said David Martin. "They saw how nervous we were and they feed off that."
Several family members vented frustration with state and local officials for not marshaling resources faster for Flagler County. They felt they took a back seat to Volusia.
Sunday's headline in the Daytona Beach News-Journal seemed to say it all from a Flagler perspective: "Wait, Worry."
Many who were displaced from their normal Sunday routine came to a makeshift church service in Daytona Beach. More than 1,000 attended services at the Peabody Auditorium, including Catholics, Jews, some who were regular churchgoers and some who were not. The services were organized by Riverbend Community Church in nearby Ormond Beach, which was displaced so the church building could be used as a command center.
"I can't take much more," said Diane Palmer-Pansullo, who sat in the auditorium as her tears streamed onto the head of her 6-year-old granddaughter. "I needed God today of all days." She was evacuated from her home on Wednesday and smoke has aggravated her asthma, she said.
Psychologist Karen Samuels, who was recruited by Volusia health officials to assist victims of the fire, said residents of the region were "normal people having normal reactions to abnormal events."
She urged them to keep a normal routine, seek some diversions, eat right and "talk as much as you need to." She also recommended turning off the news, especially in front of children, who can't distinguish between a fire two counties away and one in their own neighborhood.
A normal routine is difficult, though, for someone spending the night in an emergency shelter.
The Roman family of Flagler County spent the night in a classroom at Atlantic High School in Port Orange with three other families, while some of their roommates watched television past midnight. More than 200 others slept at the school that night, including 55 with special medical needs.
Everyone was helpful, said Laura Roman, 52, but "there's nothing better than home."
Dena Kristan, 19, managed only four hours of sleep at the school.
"With so much on your mind," she said, "you can't catch much sleep."
-- Times staff writer Julie Hauserman and the Associated Press
contributed to this report.
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