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Warning Signs Won’t Come in Time for Fire Season

April 27th, 2012 by flanews

Legislative efforts to prevent tragedies like the pileup on I-75 that killed 11 people in January won’t be in place when Florida’s wildfire danger is at its peek. Lawmakers put two million dollars in the state budget for digital warning signs on I-75, but as Whitney Ray tells us, the signs won’t be up until the bulk of the smoke is clear.

Before the tragic pileup on I-75 that cost 11 people their lives. State troopers put mobile warning signs on standby, because smoke from a nearby wildfire was threatening to engulf the interstate.

Had the digital signs been in place, they could have warned drivers of the dangerous road conditions.

After the tragedy state lawmakers acted fast. Within weeks, two million dollars was put in the state budget to buy permanent digital signs for I-75.

“They’ll span the whole interstate, they’re electronic informational signs, you see them all over Florida,” said Rep. Keith Perry.

Two million dollars could buy as many as eight signs just like this one, but before the Department of Transportation can put them up, they’ll first have to pinpoint the most smoke and fog prone locations. That could take all summer.

The state is already in a dangerous wildfire season and according to the Florida Forest Service it could get worse. The season peeks in May, June and July.

“Everything burns, the swamps burn, the stumps burn, what we call thousand hour fuels, those are those big stumps and stuff, they’ll burn in these drought conditions and they’ll provide all the smoke,” said Forest Service Director Jim Karels.

And when winds shift that smoke can envelop a road in minutes. According to this FDLE report, detailing the events of the I-75 tragedy, troopers decided to reopen the interstate when they could see a half mile up the road. Thirty minutes later, as cars began to ram into each other, visibility had dropped to just three feet.

DOT is still working out the detail of the sign placement study with FSU and UCF. The department won’t have money for the study or the signs until July. That’s when Florida’s new budget goes into effect.

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