Chief Skinner's "Wildfires of '98" Article

Dearest Family and Friends,
Several of you have asked what we did during the 4th of July holiday, particularly July 1st and 2nd, so here goes:
El Niño gave us the wettest winter in Florida's modern history. Many of our lakes and rivers reached flood stage at one time or another between January and the end of March. Our wild lands had not looked so lush and green since I moved here in 1964. Beginning in April, the rain stopped, which we welcomed at first. By June 1 we were 60 days without rain, which in Florida is extremely rare. It proved to be dangerous as well.
On June 6 we were attending a fire department picnic at the beach when I learned that we were sending units on mutual aid to Flagler County for a wild fire. We later heard that 23 houses were destroyed and many others damaged.
In a state of growing unease, we watched as June progressed without rain. To make matters worse, there was a steady, dry west wind. It reminded me of the Santa Anna winds when I lived in California. Wild fires became more frequent and eventually an inter-agency fire fighting team was assembled in the area to combat the many fires that were beyond control.
During this period, we sent units to Ormond Beach, Maytown, Port Orange, and a variety of other places without real names, to assist with other crews working continuously to combat the fires. None of them had approached our City limits from outside, although we had a few fires inside the City that we were able to contain. (Our City is 62 square miles, about a fourth of which are forested.)
On the morning of June 30th there was a significant fire threatening from outside the City in the Indian Lake area west of town. Federal fire fighters were cutting lines around the blaze and were expected to contain it. We continued to help our neighbors with mutual aid crews, but had not yet geared up for a major firefight.
After attending the 0700 inter-agency briefing at the Volusia County fairgrounds base camp the morning of July 1st, I decided to go have a look at the Indian Lake/Rima Ridge area myself. I watched for an hour as US Forest Service dozers plowed a wide firebreak to widen the logging road ahead of the fire's eastward path. I decided to drive the road north all the way to Ormond Beach to get a feel for the scope of the problem.
When I returned to the City limits an hour later, the forestry dozers and fire engines were loading up to evacuate the area. I decided to sit and watch just south of the fire's right flank and head.
The air was electric with the crackle of gallberry and palmetto exploding, and occasionally the fire would crown in the tops of the resinous pines. As the flame front approached the newly widened road, I could see a wall of flame about half a mile across and thirty to fifty feet high. The air was thick with brown smoke driven by the west wind.
Spot fires were already burning across the clearing as the fire created its own wind, sending burning pine cones, branches, and detritus flying downwind up to half a mile. Our city was now the front line!
After studying my topo maps and using forestry predictions on fire behavior, I radioed our shift commander that the fire would probably enter LPGA to the east by around 4pm. I then took a drive through LPGA to inventory those buildings and houses that we would have to defend. There were eleven on my list. There was also a possibility that the fire could jump interstate 95, so I drove through the Indigo development. There were too many wood shingled houses and townhouses there to count.
I called our Deputy Chief, Larry Taft, and our shift commander, Jim Robertson, about what would probably occur during the afternoon and evening. We agreed to gear up for a full ICS operation. We established my Blazer as a mobile incident command post and our downtown headquarters as planning, logistics, and finance. Taft opened a "war room" in his office, with a sign on the door saying "Make it happen!" He began hiring 25 additional personnel on overtime to beef up our normal on duty strength of 21 and put all our available reserve apparatus in service. I then ordered the mandatory evacuation of the northwest quadrant of our City.
In the field, I met with Robert Cunningham, the US Forest Service branch director, and Dave Bowland, the Volusia County Fire Services logistics officer. We created a "unified command" post on the LPGA overpass over interstate 95, since both of them were closed because of the smoke conditions. Unified command is often used when large-scale multi-agency operations occur to facilitate coordination among the crews. Robert and I stuck together throughout the night to coordinate our five divisions, which at the height of the fire included about 125 personnel, 30 engine companies, 10 brush trucks, and a half dozen dozers.
The night became a blur of assigning and reassigning units from division to division and location to location to keep our resources at the many buildings which were attacked by fire as it progressed from west to east. From my elevated vantagepoint, I could see the orange glow in the smoke as fire scoured LPGA, jumped the interstate and spread through the woods towards Indigo. We kept two strike teams staged there throughout the night. Other areas turned out to be bigger problems.
As each division took its turn in the firestorm, you could hear the strain in the voices of the officers radioing their situation reports to their division commanders. In case after case, they were pinned down against the rear of buildings at the edge of the forest, defending the structure as the flames engulfed the dry ground cover and trees. They
would call for more resources while we engaged in the calculus of command, deciding which situation was more urgent, and if any should be "written off" as hopeless.
By daylight, the situation reports were amazing. We had successfully defended every structure, sustained only the most minor injuries, and had no citizen casualties! This is a record of which every neighboring City is envious, and for which I couldn't be more proud of our fire fighters. They faced a seemingly unstoppable enemy, fighting hand to hand and door to door in defense of our City, and won!
After dismantling our command structure, I drove through area after area where the forest was black from the ground to about 50 feet up, yet not a single structure was damaged, even those that were only 4 feet from the forest. The heat killed landscape plants, but the buildings were unharmed. It still amazes me when I think about the determination it takes to stand your ground when faced with a 50-foot wall of flame.
On July 2nd, we faced another fire head that attacked the LPGA clubhouse and headquarters buildings. Again, our men and women stood their ground, and we successfully defended them as well. The next week, the Commissioner of the LPGA gave us $5,000 check by way of saying thanks! Lest this account become too maudlin, attached is a snapshot taken during the fire's advance to the clubhouse. Hey, if the late Alan Shepard could play golf on the moon, why not!
To say that I am proud of our fire fighters and officers would be an understatement. Having served my time in the trenches, I know what it takes. I am humbled by their courage and determination.
If you are still reading at this point, thank you, for there was something of a catharsis in the writing. Thanks also to the many of you who sent e-mail or called during our fires to express your concern and support. I wouldn't have missed it for anything!
Love to all, Paul S.

Welcome!

This is the first installment in the Skinner Family blog. Members of the extended James C. Skinner Family are invited to make postings so that we can keep up with the various happenings among the family.