UPDATE APRIL 2
Fighting fire with fire: crews working at Lake Woodruff
The 1,000-acre fire in Lake Woodruff National Wildlife Refuge was reduced to 800 acres after helicopters dropped water to slow the flames on April 1, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) said.
Today, April 2, ground crews are conducting burnout operations, a type of wildfire containment tactic where fire is used to burn off excess vegetation (fuel for fire) near fire lines (where there are breaks in vegetation that prevent fire from expanding).
Suppression efforts will continue overnight, USFWS said.
Lake Woodruff National Wildlife Refuge remains closed. Avoid the area.
UPDATE APRIL 1
After helicopters dropped water to slow the flames, the fire in Lake Woodruff National Wildlife Refuge is 60 percent contained, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS). The fire is currently blazing on 800 acres on the 22,000-acre protected marshland.
According to the USFWS, weather conditions tomorrow, April 2, should be favorable for containment operations.
The Wildlife Refuge is still closed. Avoid the area.
Firefighters from the Florida Forest Service, Volusia County Fire Rescue and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service responded.
Fire mapping shows the current location of the flames.
ORIGINAL ARTICLE:
A fierce storm brought chunks of hail and lightning strikes to north DeLand and DeLeon Springs yesterday evening. Shortly after, a fire ignited in the 22,000-acre protected marshland of Lake Woodruff National Wildlife Refuge. Early reports showed 500 acres on fire in the east side of the refuge — data from the U.S. Forest Service today, April 1, shows the fire to have grown to 1,000 acres.
Nicholas Eneix was on Lake Woodruff’s main trail yesterday, March 31, as he is at least once a month to fish or ride bikes, when the thunderstorm rolled by. Eneix saw lightning strikes near the area where the fire began around 6 p.m., he said.
“I didn’t see it hit the ground because there were trees in between me and where the fire started, but I saw a couple strikes right in the area and then, a few minutes later when I started down the trail, I could see the smoke in the sky,” Eneix told The Beacon. “Right after the fire started, there was a very strong wind, and it stoked the fire like crazy.”
The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service confirmed in a bulletin today that lightning caused the fire.
Nearby residents reported seeing flames and smoke on the horizon in the area of the wildlife refuge, which is currently closed.
Mapping shows the fire is currently heading toward the lake itself — Lake Woodruff.
No structures are currently endangered by the fire.
This story will be updated when more information is available.
