February 2, 2023 – Firefighters are making headway on the mulch fire at Arrow Materials near Favoretta after employing new strategies to extinguish it that include dismantling it into smaller and more manageable piles that are directly impacted by the water from the water resources set up around the perimeter.
Flagler County Fire Rescue has been assisting the Florida Forest Service and the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, the lead response agencies.
“We have put approximately 103,000 gallons of water on the piles the first day,” said Florida Forest Service District Manager Anthony Petellat. “There is some smoke emitting from the piles but, is minimal comparatively speaking. We are making great progress.”
Initially the fire, which started November 26, was about an acre – burning dense brush and mulch. Crews had to wait for enough of that acre to burn before it was safe enough to dismantle it.
“The aerial pictures show there are other large piles on the property,” said Flagler County Fire Rescue Chief Mike Tucker. “A lot of our efforts over the past two months have been to prevent this fire from spreading. It was very hot and very compact, and we did everything possible to keep it from growing.”
Arrow Materials is a company that collects brush to convert it into mulch. It is located at 295 County Road 200.
“We aren’t quite ready to give a timeline of when we believe this fire will be fully extinguished,” Tucker said. “We’ve been working 8 or 9 hours straight every day and will continue to do so.”
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