[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 90 (Thursday, July 9, 1998)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7782-S7784]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         FLORIDA'S FIRE CRISIS

  Mr. GRAHAM. Mr. President, I am here with a sense of disappointment 
in that the President of the United States today is visiting my State 
and, particularly, visiting areas of the State that have recently been 
ravaged by an unprecedented series of wildfires. I regret that because 
of the schedule of the Senate, particularly the votes we have just 
taken this morning and those we will take later in the day, I was 
unable to accept the President's invitation, which he had generously 
extended to my colleague, Senator Mack, and myself. Therefore, I would 
like to take this opportunity to make a statement to my colleagues as 
to the circumstances in Florida.
  Mr. President, next month--on August 24--Floridians will observe the 
sixth anniversary of one of the worst natural disasters in recent 
memory: Hurricane Andrew.
  Many of my colleagues will remember that Andrew roared ashore in the 
middle of the night and vented its fury on the people of South Florida. 
The storm severely disrupted the lives of thousands of families. It 
damaged 128,000 homes and left approximately 160,000 people homeless. 
The insurance industry estimates that Andrew cost our state nearly $30 
billion.
  Perhaps even more sobering than these numbers is the knowledge that 
the devastation and loss of life would have been even worse had the 
storm struck just twenty miles to the north, in the heart of downtown 
Miami.
  These facts demonstrate the unprecedented nature of Hurricane 
Andrew's destructive force.
  But perhaps even more unprecedented was the tremendous generosity 
shown by people outside of Florida in the aftermath of Andrew's driving 
rains and fierce winds. Americans from every corner of our nation put 
their lives on hold to assist those Floridians whose lives had been 
turned upside down by Mother Nature. Some sent food and supplies. 
Others packed up cars, loaded vans, and boarded buses so that they 
could join relief efforts.
  State disaster agencies lent personnel, expertise, and know-how to 
the Florida Department of Community Affairs in its clean-up efforts.
  This enormous outpouring of support by Americans for people they had 
never met and neighborhoods they had probably never visited reaffirmed 
our belief in the vitality and essential goodness of the human spirit.
  This August, Floridians will remember Hurricane Andrew with another 
natural disaster on their minds. Since May 24, a deadly combination of 
intense heat and prolonged drought has sparked more than 2,000 forest 
fires in Florida's 67 counties. Even for a state that is experienced in 
dealing with natural disasters, these fires have been spawned during 
what may be one of the worst years in Florida meteorological history.
  In late January and early February--in the midst of our state's dry 
season--several Northern Florida counties were deluged by massive 
floods. Not long after, parts of Central Florida were devastated by 
thunderstorms and tornadoes that are more typical in the summer months.
  The fire crisis is the latest example of our state's climactic 
reversal of fortune in 1998. Florida's hot summer temperatures are 
typically accompanied by afternoon thunderstorms and tropical weather. 
This year's heat and drought, and the lush undergrowth and foliage that 
sprung up in the wake of Florida's unusually wet winter, combined to 
fuel the fires that have put the

[[Page S7783]]

state under a cloud of smoke and chased nearly 112,000 residents from 
their homes--7,040 of them into emergency shelters.
  The numbers that I have just cited, and those that I will provide 
hereafter, are the result of analyses done by local and State emergency 
agencies and the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
  These fires have had severe consequences. More than 350 homes, 
businesses, or buildings have been destroyed or heavily damaged. Nearly 
100 individuals, mostly brave firefighters battling the blazes, have 
been injured.
  Fortunately, as of today there have been no lives lost directly as a 
result of the wildfires.
  A 140-mile stretch of Interstate 95 which was closed for several days 
was recently reopened. Four hundred and eighty-three thousand acres of 
land have been burned. As of the current estimate of damage, with 
higher estimates anticipated as a full economic accounting can be 
completed, there has been damage sustained of almost $300 million to 
private interests and over $100 million in costs to local, State, and 
Federal Governments.
  In a step never before taken in Florida's long history with violent 
weather, on Friday of last week every one of the 45,000 residents of 
Flagler County, a county that is just north of Daytona Beach, had to be 
evacuated from their homes. That evacuation continued over the 
Independence Day weekend.
  I happened to be with Governor Chiles when he made that mandatory 
evacuation order. There is no more difficult requirement of a Governor 
than to order people out of their homes for their safety. Governor 
Chiles was resolute, he was prompt, he was compassionate in that order, 
and it no doubt resulted in substantial saving of lives, of potential 
injuries, and the homes of those persons who were evacuated.
  Mr. President, Mother Nature has once again subjected Florida to 
unprecedented weather conditions.
  But with the memories of recent disasters, such as Hurricanes Opal 
and Andrew, and the aftermath still fresh in our minds, we know that 
the national response to our pleas for help is anything but 
unprecedented and are moved by the immediacy of America's heartfelt 
offers of assistance.
  The Clinton Administration and Federal Emergency Management Agency 
(FEMA) moved quickly to ensure that Florida could rely on the federal 
government as a full partner in its battle against the fires. On June 
19, President Clinton declared all 67 Florida counties as a major 
disaster area and made them eligible for immediate federal financial 
assistance.
  In the weeks following that declaration, FEMA officials have 
skillfully coordinated relief efforts and worked hard to channel 
additional aid to the hardest hit areas. We greatly appreciate the 
continued efforts of FEMA Director James Lee Witt and his agency. 
Director Witt has spent much of his six years on the job in the 
Sunshine State--responding to Hurricane Opal, floods in North Florida, 
tornadoes in Central Florida, and now fires in every corner of the 
state.
  I commend him and his fellow FEMA employees for their long-standing 
dedication to helping Floridians recover from Mother Nature's wrath.
  But it is not just FEMA that has responded to this crisis. Americans 
from 44 states are fighting side-by-side with Floridians to prevent 
these fires from endangering families and engulfing even more homes, 
businesses, and roads. For example, U.S. Marines, National Guardsmen, 
and National Weather Service meteorologists from all over the country 
have converged on Florida. Two hundred and twenty-six firefighters and 
53 firefighting vehicles have been airlifted from California, Oregon, 
and South Dakota, states whose residents are not strangers to violent 
weather and natural disasters.
  North Carolina, a state that is even more heavily forested than my 
own, has sent 47 fire trucks and 95 firefighters to Florida.
  Pennsylvania, which lost more than 2,200 citizens in less than ten 
minutes during the catastrophic Johnstown flood of 1889, has 
contributed 80 volunteers to combat this natural disaster in 1998.
  So many states have donated equipment that two-thirds of all the 
firefighting helicopters in the United States are now working in 
Florida.
  Even foreign governments have been eager to lend a hand. As Miami 
Herald Staff Writer Cyril Zaneski reported on July 4th, the Canadian 
provinces of Quebec and Ontario ``offered firefighting tanker planes 
capable of dropping about 9,500 gallons of water an hour and refilling 
their tanks without landing.''
  I am pleased to announce that the Herculean efforts of these brave 
firefighters have not been in vain. The tide is turning.
  Over the last few days, those Floridians who were forced from their 
homes have returned. Most of the fires have been brought under control. 
Meteorologists are predicting lower temperatures and more rain in the 
coming days. We have not reached the end of this crisis--but I am 
hopeful that this good news marks the beginning of the end.

  Before I conclude today, I want to share a story that I think 
demonstrates why Floridians are so grateful for the efforts of our 
friends from around the nation.
  An article in the Columbus Dispatch on July 6 chronicled the efforts 
of two Ohio firefighters in Central Florida. I'd like to read part of 
that article, and I ask that the full text be included in the Record.

       Around every corner, behind every door and over every store 
     counter, the stories just keep coming--stories of gratitude 
     to the men and women who have come from all over to stare 
     down an inferno.
       There's the woman originally from Maine who invited all 
     Maine firefighters to stay with her.
       There's the firefighter from Western Florida who, try as he 
     might, wasn't permitted to pay for a pair of boots at Wal-
     Mart.
       There's the laundry owner from nearby DeLeon Springs who 
     offered to wash buckets full of sooty, sweaty socks.
       And then there's the free eye drops and sunblock, the free 
     bottled water and Gatorade by the truckload, the free food 
     cooked up in every possible pot, from residents' kitchens to 
     popular restaurants.
       Mark Puhl, a firefighter from Nelsonville, Ohio, who 
     arrived in Deland with a relief crew Saturday night, got an 
     early taste of the appreciation. ``Usually response like this 
     comes through toward the end of a job,'' he said. ``But we 
     had people in the airport thanking us in advance.''
       His colleague, Lea Ann Parsley of Granville, Ohio, 
     understood. The wildfires she typically fights are in 
     sparsely populated areas out West. ``We're usually protecting 
     timber,'' she said. ``Here we're protecting people's homes. 
     It hits home a lot more.''

  Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the article be printed in 
the Record.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

                      [From the Columbus Dispatch]

 Floridians Tend to Firefighters--From Haircuts to Boots, it's all `on 
                               the House'

       DeLand, Fla. (AP)--Around every corner, behind every door 
     and over every store counter, the stories just keep coming--
     stories of gratitude to the men and women who have come from 
     all over to stare down an inferno.
       There's the woman originally from Maine who invited all 
     Maine firefighters to stay with her. There's the firefighter 
     from western Florida who, try as he might, wasn't permitted 
     to pay for a pair of boots at Wal-Mart. There's the laundry 
     owner from nearby DeLeon Springs who offered to wash buckets 
     full of sooty, sweaty socks.
       And there's the free eye drops and sunblock, the free 
     bottled water and Gatorade by the truckload, the free food 
     cooked up in every possible pot, from residents' kitchens to 
     DeLand's most popular restaurants.
       ``It's the only fire I've ever fought and gained weight,'' 
     joked Jacob Wilkerson, a 29-year-old DeLand firefighter who 
     has been attacking flames since Memorial Day.
       DeLand, a town at the edge of disaster, might well adopt a 
     Dalmatian as its mascot. In these jumbled, sweaty, smoky 
     days, it has become a firefighters' community.
       The town of 16,000, about 30 miles north of Orlando, is 
     just beyond the area that the Florida wildfires have hit the 
     hardest.
       On the road, practically every third car is an emergency 
     vehicle, some from as far as Canada, Colorado, California. 
     Motels not jammed with evacuees from adjacent Flagler County 
     are filled with firefighters, as are the dorms at Stetson 
     University.
       Signs--on store marquees and hand-stenciled on plywood, on 
     towels, on bedsheets, on cardboard--are everywhere. Most say 
     thanks; some simply tell firefighters to hang in there.
       ``We luv ya,'' says the Farm Bureau Insurance sign east of 
     town. ``Thank you for saving our home,'' said another, 
     farther north.
       It's understandable. DeLand has been choked for days by a 
     haze of acrid smoke. Everyone realizes that if it's this bad 
     here, it's far worse on the fire line.
       ``If it's difficult for us, what are they facing?'' said 
     Carlos Esquivel, 18, who just graduated from DeLand High 
     School. ``They could die out there.''

[[Page S7784]]

       Similar sentiments are heard in other fire's-edge towns. In 
     Ormond Beach, on the Atlantic Coast, Tim Curtis has turned 
     his restaurant, Houligan's, into a veritable arcade for 
     firefighters, offering everything from massages to haircuts.
       Here in DeLand, firefighters are astonished at the massive 
     outpouring.
       ``I've never been to a place where their towns are burning 
     down and they're worried about us,'' said Mike Caldaro, a 
     firefighter from western Florida just back from a 23-hour 
     workday.
       He is one of 200 firefighters staying at Stetson 
     University, which opened its dormitories for firefighters. 
     His colleague, Edward Osborne, fought fires so hot they 
     melted his thermal boots. When he went to Wal-Mart to buy 
     more, the cashier handed back his money.
       ``She gave me my boots and she gave me a hug. I needed 
     both,'' Osborne said.
       Mark Puhl, a firefighter from Nelsonville, Ohio, who 
     arrived in DeLand with a relief crew Saturday night, got an 
     early taste of the appreciation.
       ``Usually response like this comes through toward the end 
     of a job,'' he said. ``But we had people in the airport 
     thanking us in advance.''
       His colleague, Lea Ann Parsley of Granville, Ohio, 
     understood. The wildfires she typically fights are in 
     sparsely populated areas out West.
       ``We're usually protecting timber,'' she said. ``Here we're 
     protecting people's homes. It hits home a lot more.''

  Mr. GRAHAM. Mr. President, I am very pleased that the President of 
the United States is going to Florida today, meeting with the victims 
and thanking the firefighters for their valiant effort.
  Mr. President, I have lived in Florida for more than sixty-one years.
  In that time, I have never observed wildfires as widespread and 
unmanageable as those that have plagued our state for the last forty-
four days.
  On behalf of over 14 million Floridians, I offer my deepest thanks to 
the thousands of Americans who have voluntarily left their homes and 
risked their lives so that our state's fire victims might not lose 
theirs.
  They are true heroes, and all of us who proudly call Florida our home 
are forever in their debt.
  Thank you, Mr. President.
  Mr. JEFFORDS addressed the Chair.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Vermont is recognized.
  Mr. JEFFORDS. Mr. President, I yield to the Senator from Kentucky for 
the purpose of a unanimous consent request.
  Mr. McCONNELL. I thank the Senator from Vermont.

                          ____________________