Mulch fire in St. Lucie County likened to filling stadium with charcoal and lighting it

Will Greenlee, Treasure Coast Newspapers
·2 min read

ST. LUCIE COUNTY — Enormous amounts of smoke Friday from a "massive" mulch fire in western St. Lucie County obscured heavy equipment in the distance and made breathing unpleasant.

The closer you got to the large piles of smoldering and burning debris, the hotter, more unpleasant and smokier it got.

Florida Forest Service and St. Lucie County Fire District officials spoke at the site of the 28-acre mulch fire, which was sparked by lightning Aug. 25 and has been emitting large amounts of smoke since.

A truck is dwarfed by mountains of vegetative debris Sept. 2, 2022, that make up mulch piles on 28 acres in western St. Lucie County in the area of Glades Cut Off and Range Line roads. The massive fire was sparked by lightning Aug. 25 and has been emitting large amounts of smoke since. It's expected to continue for weeks.
A truck is dwarfed by mountains of vegetative debris Sept. 2, 2022, that make up mulch piles on 28 acres in western St. Lucie County in the area of Glades Cut Off and Range Line roads. The massive fire was sparked by lightning Aug. 25 and has been emitting large amounts of smoke since. It's expected to continue for weeks.

They emphasized that smoke from the fire in the area of Glades Cut Off and Range Line roads, which has been seen for miles, isn’t going away soon.

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“It is 28 acres, it is massive … we're going to have the smoke burden on us for a while,” said David Grubich, forest area supervisor with the Florida Forest Service. “This smoke isn't going away, it's going to be present.”

The fire has been called a mulch fire, but Jeff Lee, assistant fire chief with the St. Lucie County Fire District, said it’s not mulch like one would envision buying at a home improvement store.

Grubich said the land is used to keep vegetative debris when woods and property are cleared for homes. This is a disposal site for that material.

Grubich said the piles are around 20 feet tall, and on top is a crust layer.

St. Lucie County Fire District and Florida Forest Service officials on Aug. 25, 2022, respond to a mulch fire in the area of Glades Cut Off and Range Line roads.
St. Lucie County Fire District and Florida Forest Service officials on Aug. 25, 2022, respond to a mulch fire in the area of Glades Cut Off and Range Line roads.

“Everything underneath it is the conductive fire where it's actually hot and glowing like a furnace,” Grubich said. “Everything underneath that, the fuels that are underneath it are now turning to charcoal from the radiant heat.”

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Grubich said it will continue until it hits bare mineral soil or the water table.

“Just think about filling the Mets stadium up with charcoal, and then lighting it on fire,” he said. “This is a big charcoal pit out here.”

Lee said people should stay indoors as much as possible and use a recirculate mode on their air conditioning. He also suggested trying to find exercises that can be done indoors.

Mountains of vegetative debris can be seen in the distance, and ground covered with ash on Sept. 2, 2022. Mulch piles have been burning on 28 acres in western St. Lucie County in the area of Glades Cut Off and Range Line roads since the the massive fire was sparked by lightning Aug. 25. It's been emitting large amounts of smoke since and is expected to continue for weeks.

“I’ve been on the fire service for 25 years and this is probably the first time we've had a mulch fire at this level,” Lee said.

A deluge of precipitation wouldn't douse the fire.

“Even if you get 12 inches of rain on this right now it's not putting this out," Grubich said. "It's going to put a protective wet blanket on it”

Will Greenlee is a breaking news reporter for TCPalm. Follow Will on Twitter @OffTheBeatTweet or reach him by phone at 772-267-7926. E-mail him at will.greenlee@tcpalm.com

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This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: Mulch fire in St. Lucie County is 28 acres and will burn for weeks