Hundreds evacuated as wildfires rage in Florida Panhandle

[Omaha Steve]

Source: AP

PENSACOLA, Fla. (AP) — Firefighters in the Florida Panhandle battled wildfires through the night that have forced hundreds of people to evacuate from their homes, authorities said.

A more than 575-acre fire in Walton County prompted about 500 people to evacuate. Authorities there said multiple structures were lost in the fire, which was 65% contained Thursday morning.

Walton County Sheriff Michael Adkinson said during a late-night news conference that those who were asked to leave their home but had no place to go were sent to South Walton High School.

Another wildfire broke out Monday afternoon in neighboring Santa Rosa County as high winds and low humidity caused the blaze to expand 10 times in size, the Florida Forest Service said in a statement. The fire started as a prescribed burn but quickly grew out of control, according to The Tampa Bay Times.


Read more: https://apnews.com/25316a918f56a8224b34491e5d517fd7

[Roc2020]

1. it's like nature is just revving to drop the other

foot on mankind

[outasync]

2. that and upcoming hurricane season.

[Grammy23]

3. Last night on our local news they indicated wild fires were burning in

Escambia county (Pensacola Area), Santa Rosa County and Walton. Evacuations were in progress at 10 p.m. Some had rented U-Haul trucks to try to haul away some of their possessions. It is extremely dry here and a front moving through brought high winds — an unfortunate combination.
My biggest beef with the local news was not putting up a map to show exactly where the fires are located. They mentioned some street names but most were not familiar names. A simple map showing where the fires were burning would have been helpful.

There is no rain to speak of but the winds have decreased this morning. The fire in Santa Rosa county was a “controlled burn” that got out of hand. Say what?? We’re as dry as a powder house (drought conditions) and someone thought doing a controlled burn was a good idea?? No word on who gets credit or blame for that decision.

[flibbitygiblets]

4. Another tragic consequence of not raking their forest floors. When will we learn?

[CurtEastPoint]

5. Isn't this Mutt Gaetzzzzz's district? Put him to work.

[packman]

7. Near me - keeping an eye open

https://www.pnj.com/story/news/2020/05/07/five-mile-swamp-fire-i-10-closed-santa-rosa-county/5181490002/

[flibbitygiblets]

9. That's terrifying! Please stay safe Packman.

[jpak]

8. When I lived in Gulf Breeze

a wild fire came within 200 yards of my apartment

The FD put it out, but it was unnerving.

[Ford_Prefect]

10. Plague and Fire. The horsemen are gathering in Florida?

[mentalsolstice]

11. We live in the evacuation area for the Walton Co. fire

We didn’t find out until this morning. We watched it from our front porch last night. A lot of roads around us are still closed off. I don’t think anyone was hurt, however, property and homes burned down.