Fire and Rain

Andrea was a bust. The half-inch of periodic rain that fell where I am came down gently giving it a chance to soak into the dust ground. "Anything helps," Da Kid had said. But said after the showers stopped while the gusting winds continued well into the next day, "This is the worst kind of storm with all the fires," because in the end all Andrea did was fan the flames.

From The Disaster News Network:

The lightning-sparked Bugaboo Scrub fire, which began Saturday in the Okefenokee Swamp and jumped into northern Florida forcing evacuations Tuesday in the small town of Taylor in Baker County, had grown to more than 40,000 acres.

No buildings were burned in Taylor and authorities said it appeared the fire would skirt the town. The fire forced the closure of several roads in the area and had spread to about 500 acres.

Firefighters in Florida continued to battle an 18,000-acre blaze in Bradford County, which they said was 20 percent contained, and a 2,000-acre fire in Alachua County. They said there was a possibility the two fires could merge. Numerous roads in the region were shut down due to the fire.

About 1,000 people were evacuated in Bradford County but about half were allowed to return to their homes Wednesday. One home was reported destroyed there.

A wildfire burning at the Flagler-Volusia County border was reported 50 percent contained. It had scorched some 6,800 acres. In Collier County, 13,000 acres had burned and one home and two mobile homes were destroyed. The fire there also forced the closure of a portion of Alligator Alley and Florida's Turnpike. Lake County reported two large fires, one at 2,600 acres which was only 15 percent contained, the other 850 acres with 55 percent containment.

The Bugaboo Scrub Fire -- the one that started in Georgia last Saturday and crossed the state line into Florida Tueday -- is now larger than the southern component of the Sweat Farm/Big Turnaround Fire.

Not that they are often right, one of the local weatherjerks just reported a likelihood of rain on Sunday.

I don't know about anyone else out there, but I can't think of a better present for Mothers Day.