12:10PM May 7, 2020

MIDDAY THURSDAY 5 MILE SWAMP WILDFIRE UPDATE… The large wildfire south of Milton and Pace continues to burn out of control as of Noon on Thursday, May 7. The estimation for total acres burned so far remains at 2,000+ acres, although we note that number hasn’t changed since last evening. Santa Rosa EMA reports as of Noon the fire is now 40% contained. Interstate 10 remains totally shut down from Exit 22 (the Avalon Boulevard exit) to Exit 31 (the FL87 exit) as of Noon. Several local roads (like Garcon Point Road) also remain closed. A few Noon updates from Santa Rosa County Emergency Management are below.

PRELIMINARY NUMBER OF STRUCTURES AFFECTED… As of Noon, early reports from inside the core fire area indicate that 18 structures have been affected or destroyed.

UPDATE ON STRUCTURES IN POTENTIAL DANGER… There are 1110 residential structures, including mobile and modular homes, single family residential homes, and guest houses, in the affected areas south of Interstate 10 near Blackwater Bay in Santa Rosa County. 649 residences (out of the 1110) are in the original evacuation area. The original evacuation area is east of Avalon Boulveard and south of Interstate 10 to the bay coastline. 366 residences (out of the 649) are in the area of greatest concern. The area of greatest concern is east of Avalon Boulevard, south of Interstate 10 and north of Mary Kitchens Road. The Ski Watch subdivision on the north side of Interstate 10 (approximately 30 hours in Ski Watch) is also an area of concern.

EVACUATION ORDERS – UPDATE… Instead of trying to piece together specifics for folks wondering about the evacuation orders, I am going to quote (verbatim) what I am getting from Santa Rosa EMA. The latest note from them I got as of Noon reads: “Everything south of Mary Kitchens Road on Avalon and Garcon Point Road, and on the west side of Avalon is at a level 1 evacuation, meaning they can return to their homes but need to stay aware. Level 1 also extends up to Da Lisa Road. Indian Bayou to Mary Kitchens Road and the houses along Mary Kitchens Road are a level 2 evacuation and may return to home but must be prepared to leave at a moment’s notice.”

PLAN OF ACTION THIS AFTERNOON… Quoting from Santa Rosa EMA: “Florida Forest Service crews from throughout the state have been called in to assist with the firefighting efforts. They will focus on improving established containment lines around the fire’s perimeter today in areas both north and south of Interstate 10. They will also conduct structure protection assessments to establish containment lines around homes and neighborhoods that could potentially be threatened by the fire.”

The Santa Rosa County Citizen Information Center is open. Those who have evacuated or who have questions may call 850-983-INFO (4636).

The American Red Cross is managing a shelter at the community center in Milton (5629 Byrom Street), for temporary sheltering. SRC EMA and the local tourism development office is coordinating with local lodging for sheltering that complies with social distancing recommendations.

Evacuated residents who need a place to house livestock may utilize the June Ates Arena/Agri-plex, 8604 Bobby Brown Rd. in Milton. Call Kyle Holley at (850) 390-9808 for instructions.

FIRE FORECAST… The good news for firefighters and all of the folks battling this massive wildfire is that relative humidity levels continue to increase across the local area. In addition, the strong winds out of the north that happened yesterday into last night have subsided considerably. Wind direction will shift from out of the south overnight into Friday ahead of showers and thunderstorms becoming possible in the evening hours.

SET UP APP ALERTS… We send quite a bit of Low-Level Alerts in our RedZone Weather app. The app is totally free for you! redzoneweather.com/app is the link where you see the download links to your respective app store for iOS and for Android devices. Once you have the app downloaded to your smartphone or tablet device, be sure to visit the Alerts tab to customize the alerts you would like to receive straight from me.

The video attached is from the Florida Department of Agriculture & Consumer Sciences.

I’ll have more updates in the coming hours in the RedZone Weather app. Have a nice Thursday afternoon!

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