Source http://www.news4jax.com/news/2907427/detail.html
Four brush fires in northeast Florida -- two that came near homes -- were contained by Monday evening, but forestry officials and meteorologists worry that conditions today are idea for more fires.
Motorists along Interstate 10 are warned of lingering smoke in the area after a fire has consumed 8,000 acres in Osceola National Forest, near the Baker/Columbia county line.
The fire began Sunday as a controlled blaze of about 700 acres, but jumped fire lines and grew throughout the day Monday.
Another fire south of Keystone Heights came within 30 feet of three houses near Swan Lake in northern Putnam County on Monday before being beaten back.
The Division of Forestry reported another forest fire that had burned about 75 acres in Baker County, and firefighters reported fires near Flagler Heights in St. Johns County (pictured, left), in Hollister in Putnam County, in the University Oaks area of Levy County and in Columbia County.
Both the Swan Lake area fire, which burned about 20 acres, and the Hollister fire started as trash fires.
No evacuations were required, and no civilian injuries have been reported. One volunteer firefighter from Clay County received minor hand injuries. He was treated on scene before being transported to the hospital.
With dry, breezy conditions, the National Weather Service issued a Red Flag Warning Monday for 15 counties in Northeast Florida and Southeast Georgia. While the warning was dropped overnight as humidity rises, it is back in effect Tuesday.
"The combination of low relative humitity and gusty winds is a bad thing this time of a year, as the month of March can dry things out pretty rapidly," Channel 4 meteorologist John Gaughan said Tuesday on the morning show.
Gaughan said there's a change of some rain later this evening, but then the forecast is dry from the rest of the week.
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RED FLAG WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE JACKSONVILLE FL
523 AM EST TUE MAR 9 2004
FLZ020>025-030>033-035>038-040-092200-
ALACHUA-BAKER-BRADFORD-CLAY-COLUMBIA-DUVAL-FLAGLER-GILCHRIST-HAMILTON-
MARION-NASSAU-PUTNAM-ST JOHNS-SUWANNEE-UNION-
523 AM EST TUE MAR 9 2004
...RED FLAG WARNING FROM LATE MORNING THROUGH SUNSET...
DISCUSSION...DRY CONDITIONS WILL CONTINUE TODAY WITH RELATIVE
HUMIDITIES FALLING TO 25 TO 30 PERCENT. DURATIONS AT OR BELOW 35
PERCENT WILL BE 4 TO 6 HOURS. IN ADDITION...WIND GUSTS OVER 20 MPH ARE
POSSIBLE LATE THIS AFTERNOON. THEREFORE A RED FLAG WARNING IS IN EFFECT
FOR NORTHEAST FLORIDA.
PLEASE ADVISE THE APPROPRIATE OFFICIALS OR FIRE CREWS.
FOR ADDITIONAL FIRE WEATHER INFORMATION...VISIT THE NATIONAL WEATHER
SERVICE IN JACKSONVILLE WEBSITE ON THE INTERNET AT
WWW.SRH.NOAA.GOV/JAX/FIREWX.SHTML.
From NWS Discussion...
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.FIRE WX...
RED FLAG CONDS FINALLY COMING TO A CLOSE THIS EVENING WITH 9 PM OBS
REBOUNDING ABOVE 35 PERCENT. WILDFIRES THAT BROKE OUT TODAY ARE
SHOWING SIGNS OF DECLINING ON THE RADAR AS WELL AS THE LACK OF ANY
REAL HOT SPOTS ON THE 11-4 SAT IMAGERY...EXCEPT FOR A PERSISTENT HOT
SPOT ALONG THE BAKER/COLUMBIA COUNTY LINE IN THE OSCEOLA NATIONAL
FOREST. ANOTHER RED FLAG DAY ON TAP FOR NE FL WITH BRZY CONDS
EXPECTED DURING THE AFTN IN ADVANCE OF CLIPPER SYSTEM UNDER W/SWLY
WINDS.
