By Beth Gaddis, TBO.com, Ellen Gedalius and Josh Poltilove, The Tampa Tribune,
and Samara Sodos, News Channel 8

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TAMPA – Local brush fires contributed to poor air quality in the Bay area today.

There are at least three brush fires burning in Sarasota, Hillsborough and Polk Counties. The fire in Sarasota is threatening homes and has shut down I-75 northbound near Fruitville Road. 

The problems began this morning when two neighboring weather systems funneled the wind from the north into the area.  Smoke and ash from fires in north Florida and Georgia turned the sky gray and caused several counties to issue health advisories.

From canceled professional sports games to elementary school gym classes that were moved indoors, Tampa residents coped with the smoke that hung over the city.

At the Tampa Police Department, soot covered cars in the parking lot. At a downtown school, a child covered his face with his sweatshirt in an attempt to mask the stench.

Tonight’s Gwen Stefani concert at the Ford Amphitheatre will go on as scheduled, but many other outdoor events were canceled or moved indoors.

The Tampa Yankees canceled a 1 p.m. game against the Daytona Braves. Ticket holders can use the tickets for any other Tampa Yankees game played at home.

“For the safety of the players, both teams agreed not to put the players out on the field,” said Vance Smith, the team’s general manager.

At Rampello Downtown Partnership School, more than 200 children were supposed to go on a field trip today to the Yankees game. Instead, they stayed at school, where gym classes were moved to the cafeteria and dance studio.

The school also was making sure children with asthma were OK.

“This is really, really bad here,” assistant principal Terri Evans said about noon today. “Every time I walk outside, I gasp.”

Tampa Fire Rescue had a hectic morning, fielding phone calls from residents wondering about the smoke in their neighborhoods, Capt. Bill Wade said. Calls started coming in at about 7 a.m. they were told if they saw a specific smoke source or a fire, help would be dispatched.

Fire rescue’s headquarters also received lots of calls: about 40 between 8 a.m. and 10 a.m.

Calls tapered off by early afternoon.

People working outside gradually grew accustomed to the smoke.

The smoke also was the topic of conversation at Sodie Senaf’s hotdog stand on N. Franklin Street. As the afternoon wore on, everyone agreed the smoke seemed to be lifting.

Jake Balmert spent the day building a stage in the park across from City Hall. The Florida Orchestra is scheduled to perform there Wednesday.

“You get over it,” Balmert aid. “You get used to it after awhile.”

Tad Wheeler was striping the pavement on Twiggs Street as part of the city’s project to turn some one-way streets into two-way roads.

“It’s hard to see the tops of these buildings,” Wheeler said. “It burns the eyes. It smells like a camp fire.”

The air quality index in the Tampa area as of 5 p.m. had improved from earlier readings, but stood at 168, which is unhealthy for everyone, according to the website www.airnow.gov.  That means anyone with heart or lung disease, older adults and children should avoid going outside.  Everyone else should avoid prolonged or heavy exertion while outside.

Even healthy people are being told to curtail outdoor physical activity through tomorrow.  Several Bayshore Boulevard joggers called the Hillsborough County Environmental Protection Commission (EPC) and asked if they should be outside jogging.

“We’re asking people to try and use common sense and if you don’t have to be outside, don’t be outside,” said Tom Tamaninni, general manager for air monitoring for the EPC. “If you’re a jogger down Bayshore, possibly use a treadmill or jog indoors.”

The winds are sending in smoke from the northeast, where fires are located, Tamininni said.  He said Hillsborough County has seen an increase in particulate matter in the air as a result of the fires.  Both Hillsborough County and Pinellas County have issued air pollution advisories and Hernando County has issued a smoke advisory.

“I’m not sure there’s a lot we can do,” Tamininni said. “I don’t think we can control the winds and the direction of the winds.”

 

 

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