PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. — The St. Lucie County Fire District (SLCFD) is announcing new plans to help put an end to the mulch fire that has, at times, filled areas with smoke.
There may be a silver lining through the smoke that has been choking skies in Port St. Lucie for nearly 3 weeks.
"It's causing my eyes to be constantly itchy; I've gotten nosebleeds from it, I'm constantly wiping my nose because it feels like it's on fire all the time," said Laura Belliard who has been affected by the smoke. "I smelt like I was in a fire pit all night, it reeked in my clothes, my hair, I had to take a shower."
SLCFD says the 28-acre mulch fire was started by a lightning strike.
"I don't have breathing conditions, I don't have COPD or asthma and I'm struggling," said Belliard. "And so the long term is always on my mind at this point"
The plan is to fight fire with water.
Thanks to a nearby waterline, the developer plans to build an aqueduct system with a dyke around the burn and flood it with some 6-million gallons of water.
Belliard who says the smoke has poured into her home and work, says she's cautiously optimistic by the plans.
"This year has been really really dry so the idea that it may happen again is always in the background. And the fact they allow the amount of accumulation to gather when they did is really upsetting because they didn't plan it out," said Belliard.
This all comes after the Fire District, Port St. Lucie Utilities Department and the developer met with the Florida Forest Service, who said the original plan to let the mulch fire simply burn out did not meet expectations.
In total it'll take up to 72 hours to for construction of the dyke to be completed.
