Where there is smoke ... there is fire!

Golf Course Superintendents often wear many hats and by nature are problem solvers. Sometimes the problem to be solved involves putting out a fire… literally.

Daily thunderstorms are a fact of life in Florida. In fact, with storms occurring approximately 100 days out of the year, Florida is known as the lightning capital of the United States. June 1 begins the unofficial start to our thunderstorm/rainy season at Olde Florida, and each year at this time we become concerned about forest fires started by a lightning strike.

In our area we are particularly concerned with lightning and forest fires because the rainy/storm season begins immediately after the dry winter season. The average monthly rainfall in the winter (November through April) is only 2 inches. Consequently as we enter June the ground is very dry and the potential for a devastating forest fire is heightened.

Almost as if somebody “flipped a switch” last week the storms began and the first lightning strike of the year produced the first forest fire of the year at Olde Florida Golf Club. Fortunately a light rain followed the lightning strike, and the golf course operations staff was on property and extinguished the fire before it had a chance to spread. 

Immediately after the fire was spotted, a fire line was established by removing the organic matter from the soil using a front-end loader. As this was being done other staff members filled portable water tanks and loaded sand in the back of utility vehicles. Within a few minutes the fire was contained, and shortly thereafter extinguished.  With the average monthly rainfall being 9 inches in June the ground usually becomes saturated fairly quickly.