Florida Is Warming Up
The multiple freezes in Florida this year have created an additional fire hazard. People put in tropical varieties of plants which die when the frost hits, providing fuel for fires. Because of the sand, the ground doesn’t retain a lot of moisture, so a couple of days of low humidity can really dry the place out. We have been under fire warnings for much of the year on days without rain. The cold fronts, and North winds produce the conditions, and our local luck ran out yesterday.
From the Local Puppy Trainer: Wildfire rages through South Walton neighborhood
POINT WASHINGTON — Flames could be seen over the tops of trees Friday afternoon as a wildfire quickly spread over 10 acres in a neighborhood north of East Point Washington Road.
The fire blazed along the McQuage Bayou north to Choctawhatchee Bay, torching docks and piers and damaging at least two homes.
More than 50 people were evacuated from their homes, but no injuries were reported.
The fire went along the shore in the next county to my East. There has been a lot of development there in the years before the Meltdown, and the county hasn’t caught up with resources. Fire units from Panama City Beach, Eglin AFB, and my county had to respond because Walton county just doesn’t have the infrastructure to deal with wildfires. Most of the fire departments in the county are volunteer, and the people buying waterfront property aren’t the “volunteering” type, nor do they want to pay for a fire protection district.
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Here in California we have a “let them burn” policy for people who don’t want to pay fire district dues. Results in some ugly situations where the fire district responds and only waters down the surroundings while the house burns to the ground, but does wonders for the willingness of people to pay their fire district dues :twisted:.
The problem here is that there is no fire district in that area, so it is covered by whoever is available. Florida requires you to create a fire district if you want a response in less that. oh, a couple of hours. My fire district is called Ocean City-Wright, even though Cinco Bayou is the only incorporated town in the district. In town, it is paid by the town, while it is a separate charge on the property tax bills of Ocean City and Wright. By incorporating it into the property tax bill, it isn’t optional.
We have full-time firefighters, but the rural areas are all volunteer.
Walton County simply doesn’t have the money, because the majority of the people in the county are small farmers, and the majority of the land belongs to the Air Force or St. Joe Paper.
Hell, they didn’t have life guards on the public beaches until after a CNN employee drowned and the network made a stink about it.
And heaven forbid that St. Joe Paper pay property taxes. Why, they might make less profit that way, thereby causing cooties, mass poverty, and Florida sliding off into the ocean!
– Badtux the Snarky Penguin
It’s pulp forest for the most part and is taxed at the “agricultural” rate, like most of the county. The residential rate doesn’t kick in until after it is developed and sold to establish the new assessed value. A lot of their unsold new McMansions are still paying the agricultural rate.