Wildfires in North Florida.

Posted by Hope1995x@reddit | PrepperIntel | View on Reddit | 27 comments

Florida is known to have plenty of pine forest so fires are common, also there is a drought.

I live in a trailer and I can smell the smoke outside. There are no evacuations ordered near my area but I wanted to share this information that the Gainesville, Live Oak, Lake City and Jacksonville areas should be on the watch.

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SafetySmurf@reddit

If you’re able, stick an hvac filter on the back of a box fan to help clean the air inside your home. Hoping you and your home stay safe.

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Sad_Money_8595@reddit

https://www.epa.gov/air-research/research-diy-air-cleaners-reduce-wildfire-smoke-indoors

That said, this only reduces PM, not the volatiles. You need a real carbon filter air purifier for that.

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NicolePSU@reddit

San Diego resident here. Download Watch Duty if you haven't already.

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DefinitelyADumbass23@reddit

I'll also add, make sure you're signed up for your county's emergency alerts too. I'm a wildland firefighter and have seen watch duty get evacuation info wrong multiple times. Cool app, not to be trusted for life/safety

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A-Supurb-Owl@reddit

Do they monitor and include fires for East Coast?

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NicolePSU@reddit

Yea. I could see the fires OP was referencing. People think the west coast is where fires always are. There are surprising amount in the south east.

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A-Supurb-Owl@reddit

Thanks so much! I was asking because I tried another app in the past but it didn’t cover the east coast where I live (I also can’t recall the name of it lol). This is helpful.

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DefinitelyADumbass23@reddit

It's a recent change, they didn't cover the eastern half of the US until several months ago

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NicolePSU@reddit

It's a good app for sure. There's access to local cameras and such also so you can see the actual areas where the fire is.

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A-Supurb-Owl@reddit

Wow!

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Perfect_Caregiver_90@reddit

Yes, my friend used it during the New Jersey fire.

You can use it through a web browser to check it out.

https://app.watchduty.org/

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bikumz@reddit

Download the “Emergency Red Cross app” if not. They basically combined all alerts from popular emergency systems and go straight to your phone. They offer literally anything including volcano alerts. It’s an option for me and I am no where near a volcano. But even if the event that you are worried about isn’t listed, they have a general system to send these alerts through evacuation or shelter in place warnings.

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A-Supurb-Owl@reddit

Awesome, thanks for the tip!

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Wytch78@reddit

I know I commented already but I wanted to add some further thoughts. If it weren't for reddit, I wouldn't have even known about a 25 acre fire just south of me. You had to dig around online on FB or whatever to find out information. Watchduty hasn't been updated for that fire in 15 hours now. Is the road still closed? Nobody knows?? Just the LACK of the local government to alert residents to evacuate was concerning. We got a huge blaring text that some people could return to their homes, but didn't get shit when it was time to leave. Just really poorly handled all the way around.

Shows they don't give a flying shit should a real emergency situation occur.

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Hope1995x@reddit (OP)

This is why reddit is so important, I'm glad you got the news. Whether its good or bad, information can save lives.

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IntoTheCommonestAsh@reddit

All those trees knocked down by hurricanes Ian Milton 3-4 years ago are now dry firewood. People were predicting major fires in the region 2-5 years after Milton, and this seems to be it.

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Girafferage@reddit

Not a lot of downed trees in Florida are dry anything. If they are touching the ground they usually become molding punk wood.

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IntoTheCommonestAsh@reddit

Have you seen a drought map for northern florida lately? trees aren't rotting fast this year.

When one tree falls, it probably falls to touch the ground and rots. When 1000s of trees are cut all the same time by a storm they don't all entirely touch the ground. Many trees will rest on each others, some will have been stacked up into piles by floods. Some die without fully falling and the standing stump dries.

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Girafferage@reddit

Yeah the contact to the ground is really the bit that is necessary. I have seen that there has been a drought but I would have thought by now most the trees would have had partial contact to the ground to start the rotting process.

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dittybopper_05H@reddit

I saw Molding Punk Wood open up for Black Flag back in 1979.

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Hope1995x@reddit (OP)

It seems to have happened after a thunderstorm probably 🌩 strikes.

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Ok-Cupcake-9822@reddit

I was on vacation in the Outer Banks last week, and I could smell whiffs of wildfire smoke a few mornings... unclear if what the origin is given how dry the entire southeast is currently.

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