In this case, firefighters were just one aspect of it. There were a lot of agencies there giving assistance in one way or another.
It doesn't present any more of a threat than spilled gasoline. Our only concern is people who have existing respiratory problems.
That's when they noticed that several gas caps were open or taken off. They called in an investigator, and it was deemed arson.
Guys who are now testing positive for hepatitis C more than likely contracted it in the 1980s or late 1970s when it wasn't understood what hepatitis C was.
Once the fires got going, it was easy for them to get out of control.
More than anything, it just taps our resources. If you get anything else going on, it just straps the whole county as far as fire protection.
It could have been a short, it could have been a (power) surge, it could have been anything.
At one time in Flagler County, we lost more than 50 homes in one night's time. It just depended on the conditions, how big the fire was at the time, how severe and how big an impact it made.
Those fires didn't just start. Somebody started them.
We are averaging as many as 15 brush fires a week. We can't always determine the exact cause, but the biggest offender is people flicking cigarette butts out of their cars.
