PUTNAM COUNTY, Fla. – Heavy smoke in Putnam County Wednesday morning prompted the closure of multiple roads, which then led to two schools canceling classes to keep bus drivers and parents off the dangerous roads.
The smoke is the result of a lingering 314-acre wildfire that is 75% contained, according to Ludie Bond, a Public Information Officer with the Florida Forest Service.
Recommended Videos
Bond explained that driving conditions were made incredibly hazardous, with “essentially zero visibility’ because of foggy conditions mixing with the smoke from the fire, which is being fed by dried swamp beds and dried prairie areas.
The thick smoke was blanketing the area, despite a lack of visible flames within the wildfire.
Bond explained the unusual conditions in Florida that lead to this phenomenon.
"When fire gets into these areas, instead of just burning across the surface, the fire starts burrowing and tunneling underground," Bond explained.
She said Florida forests often have 20, 30, or even 50 feet of decaying vegetation layers, and although the fire itself isn’t growing, it’s feeding off the vegetation in the ground
“There’s really no way to mitigate that,” Bond explained, adding that because of this, the smoky conditions will persist for a while. “If you have any kind of health concerns, you may need to leave the area for a while until conditions improve.”
She said there’s no way to predict when that might be and encouraged residents to pay attention to all warnings from the Putnam County Sheriff’s Office and Florida Highway Patrol on roadway driving conditions.
“We do understand people are concerned because the fire is still occurring in their area; it must be very stressful for them,” Bond said. “But please know that we have crews out there day and night monitoring those containment lines, monitoring the hot spots, doing what we can to make sure we keep the perimeter of the fire cool so the fire doesn’t spread any further.”
Bond explained that the extreme drought conditions across Florida are increasing wildfire dangers, and firefighters are urging everyone to be cautious.
“Please do what you can do to prevent any additional human-caused fires,” Bond said.
She said conditions should improve as the fog burns off into the afternoon, but expect visibility to be affected again overnight into the early morning hours on Thursday.
She urged everyone to sign up for their county’s alert system so they can know what’s happening in their area.
Putnam County Superintendent Rick Surrency said a decision will be made on a day-by-day basis, depending on weather conditions, on whether schools in the affected areas will be open.
On Wednesday, both SR 20 and Highway 15 were closed, so the district made the decision to close both Jenkins Elementary School and Interlachen Jr.-Sr. High School to keep bus drivers and families off the hazardous roads.