I-4 Closures Possible In Polk

TAMPA - Interstate 4 motorists could continue to encounter closed lanes until firefighters can extinguish smoldering hot spots that send smoke over the road every time wind blows from the north.

The Florida Highway Patrol closed westbound lanes of I-4 about 3 a.m. today and eastbound lanes roughly four hours later along the same stretch of highway where 70 vehicles crashed last week, killing five and injuring 38.

Both lanes reopened about 8:30 a.m.

Crews from the Florida Division of Forestry are working their way through about 380 acres of dried swamp to put water on smoldering patches in a process that could drag on.

"We would love to have this done by the end of business today, but that's not going to happen without an inch of rain," said Gerry LaCavera, a forestry wildfire mitigation specialist.

Without a good soaking, he said, he cannot say how long the hot spots will smolder and possibly send enough smoke over the road to close it. The smoldering areas are concentrated on the north end of the burned area.

The fire started on Jan. 8 as a controlled burn that was to cover only 10 acres. A precipitous plunge in humidity allowed the fire to surge out of control and mushroom to more than 300 acres.

The fire, about a mile north of I-4, was still burning on Wednesday morning when drivers encountered a stretch of road where visibility dropped to a few feet. State forestry officials are investigating whether smoke mixing with fog created an impenetrable pall that blanketed the road.

Smoke provides tiny particles for water molecules in fog to cling to and create a mix that is thicker that either creates alone.

The division of forestry has 10 water-toting brush trucks and two of its heaviest bulldozers working to put out the last of the smoking areas. The fire is contained and producing no flames.

The work is hampered by the rugged terrain of an old swamp littered with cypress trees knocked flat by the hurricanes of 2004. The jumbled tangle of trees and stumps makes it difficult for the bulldozers to clear paths to the smoldering areas.

"The trees are piled like pickup sticks," LaCavera said. "There's a definite safety issue."

As the dozers open a path, the trucks, which can carry up to 500 gallons of water each, spray the smoldering areas.

This morning, highway patrol cruisers swept through the stretch of I-4 every 15 minutes, Trooper Larry Coggins said.

Patrols will continue until the risk of smoke is eliminated.

Drivers may get a break, courtesy of the weather, the next couple days.

Forecasters don't expect fog on Wednesday morning, and it isn't likely Thursday morning.

Winds tonight are forecast to blow from the north, which may send smoke over the interstate again, but on Wednesday the wind could shift to come from the southeast and south, away from the roadway, said Richard Rude, National Weather Service meteorologist.

Also, some rain is expected Wednesday night, and there is a 60 percent chance of rain on Thursday. However, Rude said Polk County may see only one-quarter inch of rain.