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Flaming ping pong balls light Jennings fire
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By Greg Walsh,
Managing Editor
MIDDLEBURG FL– Deep in the woods of Jennings State Forest, two state Division of Forestry firefighters stand at the intersection of rutted roads barely wide enough for their vehicles.
Burned trees stand behind them and smoke is billowing hundreds of feet overhead from a fast-moving fire less then a half-mile ahead of them.
On another day this might be reason for great concern, but this day it was a situation of the Division of Forestry’s own making.
After years of planning, state forestry officials began a controlled burn Thursday, Feb. 26, of 900 acres in the 26,000-acre forest in northwest Clay County to clear out hardwood and pine litter and reduce the impact of any future wildfire.
What was unusual about this burn, however, was how it was ignited – by helicopter.
Thanks to nearly ideal wind and humidity conditions, the DOF was able to use an aerial ignition device manned by a DOF firefighter sitting partially outside a Huey UH-60 helicopter flying hundreds of feet over the forest floor.
The device continuously drops small plastic orbs, similar in size to a ping pong ball, that contain potassium permanganate. The machine injects them with ethalene glycol, creating a chemical reaction that begins as the balls fall to the ground. They burst into flames in about 30 seconds.
Ashley Spillers, a Clay County-based DOF firefighter, was serving as spotter on the helicopter.
"We definitely need it," Spillers said during a refueling stop. "Normally we (do the burns) by hand starting them. The most we can do in a day is about 300 acres and that’s if everybody is there and nobody calls in sick.
"(By helicopter) in three hours we can 1,000 acres," he said. "It makes a big difference."
Foresters prefer conditions with moderate humidity levels and winds 10-15 miles per hour to push the fire sideways. The alternative is for flames to go straight up and begin damaging the tops of trees.
On Thursday, the easterly winds meant firefighters started in the western-most quadrant and let the flames back toward the interior. Several firefighting units were on standby in the forest and quickly responded if the fire began to leave the planned burn area.
Using topographical maps, Spillers directed pilot Keith Fender to the ignition points and kept contact with the "burn director" Heather Venter, a state forest biologist monitoring on the ground, via radio.
Greg Barton, an Ocala-based DOF firefighter, operated the ball-dropping device. Sitting partially out the helicopter’s side door with his feet on the runner, he watched as the balls fell from a shoot and floated slowly to the ground.
Annaleasa Winter, public information officer for the DOF Jacksonville division, said the controlled burns are vital as Florida prepares to enter the months of the year when wildfire danger is at its highest.
"They plan all these burns out years in advance," Winter said. "We had been planning this one for years and even this year it’s been delayed because the conditions weren’t right until today."
The burns in state forests are particularly important to private residents whose property adjacent to Jennings, which is popular with horseback riding, hiking and canoeing on Black Creek.
"(The landowners) have to love the idea that nobody will never move in behind them and develop," she said. "They just have to put up with a little smoke from time to time."
