LEE COUNTY, Fla. — Smoke continues to blanket south Lee County neighborhoods, and has for more than a week.
The smoldering mulch at MW Horticulture is off Michael G Rippe Parkway, south of the Briarcliff Community. One of the owners blames weather conditions for their worst fire yet.
San Carlos Park firefighters said they’ve maintained a 24 hour presence at the south Fort Myers mulch pile, constantly dumping water on a fire that even the owners of the mulch pile say is the worst they’ve ever had. The Florida Department of Environmental Protection is hoping to close the site down permanently.
70-year-old Theresa Inabitt recalled the “Thick Blue Smoke” that has choked her neighborhood on and off for over a week.
“We’ve had it off and on ever since we’ve lived here, but this was worse than any of the others.” she said.
She lives at the South Fort Myers RV Park, just downwind of the mulch pile. Since last Sunday, firefighters have been constantly at work there, dumping 75,000 gallons of water an hour on it.
At their peak, they were using 400,000 gallons an hour.
“I mean this is terrible for everybody. There is a lot of elderly people who live here with health problems. Its just been awful.” Inabitt said.
While Lee County fights to have MW Horticulture’s north mulch pile shut down in North Fort Myers, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection said neither that location, nor the South Fort Myers locations have the valid registrations to be open. They are suing to shut them down permanently.
Meanwhile the owners vow to fight it.
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