Wildfire in Florida, May 1 to 21, 2007

Name: Wildfire in Florida, May 1 to 21, 2007
Start: 2007-05-01T00:00
End: 2007-05-21T23:59
Location: Florida

May 1 to 21, 2007 · NWS JAX · 1 event in 1 county or zone

m. EDT on Tuesday May 1st near the Hunters Ridge Subdivision in southern Flagler County, Florida grew and continued for a large part of the month of May.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 1 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.

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The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 1

Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.

What happened

The episode as NWS JAX wrote it up.

A wildfire which broke out around 2 p.m. EDT on Tuesday May 1st near the Hunters Ridge Subdivision in southern Flagler County, Florida grew and continued for a large part of the month of May. On May 2nd at 3 p.m. EDT evacuations had to be ordered the Rima Ridge neighborhood as the southern side of the fire broke out and expanded towards that area. Approximately 350 residents in 147 homes were evacuated from the area and the fire had grown to 1,200 acres. A shelter was opened at Buddy Taylor Middle School for evacuees and was closed when evacuation order was lifted at approximately 7:16 p.n. EDT and residents were allowed to return to their homes. By 1 p.m. EDT, May 3rd the fire had grown to 2,207 acres and 3,700 acres by 11:30 a.m. on may 4th. By May 10th the fire was 50% contained and had burned 6,800 acres but was brought within control lines. The fire continued into June with some relief with the rains from Tropical Storm Barry (6/1-6/2).

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Jacksonville, FL wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Apr 30, 8:35 PM EST, 3 hours 25 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Apr 30, 8:35 PM EST, 3 hours 25 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE JACKSONVILLE FL
935 PM EDT MON APR 30 2007

.UPDATE...THE EAST COAST SEABREEZE HAS HELPED DISPERSED THE SMOKE
THIS EVE WITH MOST AREAS REPORTING 5 NM VISIBILITY OR GREATER.
HOWEVER...AS WINDS LIGHTEN DOWN AFTER MIDNIGHT AND SHALLOW SURFACE
BASED INVERSION SETS IN...WILL PROBABLY HAVE AREAS OF SMOKE RETURN
TO THE AREA. LIGHT SOUTH WINDS WILL KEEP MOST OF THE SMOKE ACROSS
INLAND SE GA AND HAVE GONE WITH AREAS OF LOCALLY DENSE SMOKE FOR
THAT AREA.

&&

.AVIATION...WILL SEE PREVAILING MVFR CONDITIONS DUE TO VISIBILITY
RESTRICTIONS FROM SMOKE WITH BRIEF PERIODS OF IFR BETWEEN 09 AND
13Z. THE SMOKE WILL LIFT MOST AREAS ALONG THE COAST BY AFTERNOON
BUT MVFR MAY LINGER INLAND.

&&

.MARINE...SOUTHERLY WINDS FORECAST TO INCREASE OFFSHORE AS NOCTURNAL
SURGE SETS IN BUT NO HEADLINES EXPECTED.

&&

.PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS...
AMG  55  90  59  90 /   0   0  10  10
SSI  64  81  65  83 /   0   0   0  10
JAX  58  88  61  89 /   0   0   0  10
SGJ  61  84  63  86 /   0   0   0  10
GNV  55  90  58  90 /  10   0   0  10
OCF  55  90  58  90 /  10   0   0  10

&&

.JAX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
FL...RED FLAG WARNING FROM 12 PM TO 8 PM EDT TUESDAY FOR ALACHUA-
     BAKER-BRADFORD-CLAY-COLUMBIA-DUVAL-FLAGLER-GILCHRIST-
     HAMILTON-MARION-NASSAU-PUTNAM-ST JOHNS-SUWANNEE-UNION.

GA...NONE.
AM...NONE.

&&

PP/SL/MM

Hazardous weather outlook, Apr 30, 8:55 PM EST, 3 hours 5 minutes before

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE JACKSONVILLE FL
955 PM EDT MON APR 30 2007

FLZ020>025-030>033-035>038-040-GAZ132>136-149>154-162>166-010953-
ALACHUA-APPLING-ATKINSON-BACON-BAKER-BRADFORD-BRANTLEY-
CAMDEN (COASTAL)-CAMDEN (INLAND)-CHARLTON-CLAY-CLINCH-COFFEE-
COLUMBIA-DUVAL-ECHOLS-FLAGLER-GILCHRIST-GLYNN (COASTAL)-
GLYNN (INLAND)-HAMILTON-JEFF DAVIS-MARION-NASSAU-PIERCE-PUTNAM-
ST JOHNS-SUWANNEE-UNION-WARE-WAYNE-
955 PM EDT MON APR 30 2007

THIS OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTHEAST FLORIDA AND SOUTHEAST GEORGIA.

.DAY ONE...TONIGHT...

...LARGE WILDFIRES CONTINUE IN SOUTHEAST GEORGIA...

LARGE WILDFIRES CONTINUE IN ATKINSON...WARE AND CHARLTON COUNTIES.
LIGHT SOUTH WINDS OVERNITE WILL PUSH THE SMOKE TOWARDS WAYCROSS...
BLACKSHEAR...PEARSON...DOUGLAS...AND ALMA. VISIBILITIES MAY BE
REDUCED TO NEAR A QUARTER OF A MILE OR LESS IN SOME AREAS ESPECIALLY
NEAR THE WILDFIRES. PERIODIC ROAD CLOSURES ARE POSSIBLE...MAINLY IN
WARE AND CHARLTON COUNTIES.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY...

A WARM AND DRY AIRMASS WILL CONTINUE TO AFFECT THE AREA THROUGH
WEDNESDAY RESULTING IN A CONTINUED HIGH FIRE DANGER. MOISTURE
WILL BE INCREASING BEGINNING THURSDAY WHICH MAY HELP DECREASE THE
FIRE DANGER. WILDFIRES MAY PERSIST FOR SEVERAL DAYS PRODUCING SMOKEY
SKIES AND RESTRICTED VISIBILITIES ESPECIALLY ACROSS SOUTHEAST
GEORGIA.

NO OTHER HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT REQUESTED AT THIS TIME. HOWEVER...
SPOTTERS IMPACTED BY THE SMOKE ARE URGED TO REPORT VISIBILITY
RESTRICTIONS.

FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION...VISIT THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE
IN JACKSONVILLE WEBSITE ON THE INTERNET AT WWW.SRH.NOAA.GOV/JAX.

PP

The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 wildfire. Local standard time, as filed.

Wildfire, Flagler

When: May 1, 12:00 AM EST to May 21, 11:59 PM EST
Where: Flagler forecast zone
Reported by: Emergency Manager
Coordinates: 29.471, -81.293 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

A wildfire which broke out around 2 p.m. EDT on Tuesday May 1st near the Hunters Ridge Subdivision in southern Flagler County, Florida grew and continued for a large part of the month of May. On May 2nd at 3 p.m. EDT evacuations had to be ordered the Rima Ridge neighborhood as the southern side of the fire broke out and expanded towards that area. Approximately 350 residents in 147 homes were evacuated from the area and the fire had grown to 1,200 acres. A shelter was opened at Buddy Taylor Middle School for evacuees and was closed when evacuation order was lifted at approximately 7:16 p.n. EDT and residents were allowed to return to their homes. By 1 p.m. EDT, May 3rd the fire had grown to 2,207 acres and 3,700 acres by 11:30 a.m. on may 4th. By May 10th the fire was 50% contained and had burned 6,575 (Florida Forestry) acres but was brought within control lines. The fire continued into June with some relief with the rains from Tropical Storm Barry (6/1-6/2). Fire was closed on July 12th.

What these are

Wildfire: A fire burning in wildland vegetation, with its acreage and damage where known.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Florida in 2007 Every state in 2007 This day in weather history Warnings in Florida, May 2007

Sources

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 37006.