Latest news with #AleeseMaples
Yahoo
18-04-2025
- Climate
- Yahoo
Bay County fire 50% contained, joint agency efforts continue to combat blaze
BAY COUNTY, Fla. (WMBB) – A joint collaboration between the Florida Forest Service and several other Bay County agencies resulted in a diligent response to a growing blaze. The flames were centered in the area around County Road 2301 and Clayton Road. 'We have currently 17 ground support resources working this fire, that includes supervisors, mechanics, and dozers, and we have two aerial support working the fire. As the fire grew, we definitely realized that we needed to send more resources. And that's what our incident commander did,' Florida Forest Service Public Information Officer Aleese Maples said. A chopper scooped up water from a nearby retention pond and dumped it on localized hot spots. Bay County Sheriff's deputies oversaw necessary evacuations and traffic detours. The Bay County Fire Department protected nearby structures from the fire. Brush fire shuts down traffic in Bay County 'We had ten to 15 structures threatened during the fire. We had a lot of different collaborations working on structure protection. We had our aerial support. We also had the Bay County fire department here working the fire,' Maples said. Maples says it's still unclear what started the fire. 'There's a lot of heavy blowdown still in this area from Hurricane Michael. So it becomes very challenging to navigate the area with our equipment. So we definitely sent the resources that we needed and heavier equipment, too,' Maples added. As of 7 pm Thursday, County Road 2301 and County Road 388 were still closed to traffic due to heavy smoke and poor visibility. Firefighters say the fire is now about 50% contained. News 13 will keep an eye on the fire and provide an update on Friday morning. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
08-02-2025
- Climate
- Yahoo
Florida Fire Service officials educate public ahead of wildfire season
SOUTHPORT, Fla. (WMBB) — Spring is approaching, and so is the wildfire season. Wildfire threat is worse in the spring because of the warmer and drier weather conditions. Florida Fire Service officials are encouraging the public to be wildfire-ready. 'The National Weather Service forecast for this weather season is for us to be very dry throughout the Panhandle. We're just cautioning the public to be very cautious during the upcoming months,' Florida Fire Service Public Information Officer Aleese Maples said. Circuit Judge Patterson reelected for Chief Judge of the 14th Judicial Circuit Wildfires can be caused by human activity or other weather events such as lightning. Officials said the best defense is to remove items that can act as fuel for the flames. 'If you live in the wildland-urban interface, make sure you don't have any debris or anything right up on the side of your house,' Maples said. Also, be careful when burning trash. Two of the last major wildfires in the Panhandle started as trash burns. The Mussett Bayou fire in South Walton County started on May 6, 2020, burning 343 acres and dozens of homes. The Chipola complex wildfires were a series of fires that burned more than 34,000 acres in the Bay, Calhoun, and Gulf counties. It started in March of 2022, using dead trees left by Hurricane Michael as fuel. 'Yard waste is one of the number one reasons for a while in fires. We just want to let the public be aware of when they choose to burn what the weather conditions are because they're not only endangering their own property, but they're endangering property around them,' Maples said. 17 Bay County churches come together to celebrate National Marriage Week Officials said they're wildfire-ready as well. 'Our firefighters have their equipment ready for when they are dispatched to a fire. Staying fire-ready is being close to where they're stationed and ready to receive that phone call,' Maples said. For more information on severe weather awareness week and wildfires, click here. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
