Debris from storm could pose fire risk
(AP)
Updated: 2005-09-09 19:56

It's easy to see devastation in millions of broken boards and snapped or uprooted trees, but firefighters and forestry officials see something else: fuel.

Heaps of twigs and trash, much of it cured efficiently by saltwater, are piled high on streets and sidewalks in Biloxi, Miss., on Thursday, Sept.8, 2005. It's easy to see devastation in millions of broken boards and snapped or uprooted trees, but firefighters and forestry officials see something else: Fuel. [AP]

With little rain and temperatures consistently in the 90s, debris from Hurricane Katrina is drying out. Dead and dying trees have faded from green to brown, their leaves now curled and crumbly. Heaps of twigs and trash — much of it cured efficiently by saltwater — are piled high on streets and sidewalks.

Fire has emerged as an unlikely irritant for both Louisiana and Mississippi after Katrina. In New Orleans, National Guardsmen and helicopters helping with the search and rescue were detoured to douse fires downtown and in residential neighborhoods.

Public water supplies are slowly coming back online in coastal Mississippi — but not quickly enough, as the tinder box grows more flammable.

"We've been fortunate so far," Biloxi Deputy Fire Chief Kirk Noffsinger said Thursday. A burning ban is in effect, and most people are complying.

"But there are people who are still displaced who are living on the streets, and they're going to start these fires," Noffsinger said. "Something like that could be another devastating hit for this city."

Gulfport Fire Chief Pat Sullivan said electrical and gas problems caused some house fires in his city, and the debris piles made the few working hydrants difficult or impossible to reach.

In some cases, heavy equipment crews removing the debris had actually broken off hidden hydrants.

Firefighters in communities without running water are relying on tanker trucks and mutual aid to contain their blazes. In Biloxi, each of the nine stations has at least 3,000 gallons on hand. If a fire starts in the rubble, they bulldoze it into a pile, then douse it or let it burn out.

"The main thing we would like is for people who are displaced to just get out of the city," Noffsinger said.

That goes for tourists, too. Some are now trickling into their former vacation grounds to sightsee.

Farther inland, in rural Lizana, crews were removing downed trees Thursday. But the job is slow and massive.

Volunteer fire companies have been filling tankers from a few working wells, but aboveground swimming pools and some other typical sources for refilling have been destroyed.

"A woods fire could easily get away from us without water," said firefighter William Faulk.

Three post-Katrina fires have been contained so far, and a half-dozen people burning debris in their yards put out the fires when ordered, he said.

"Don't burn anything," Faulk begged. "Just put it out by the road, and the county will take it."

___

Associated Press Writer David Royse contributed to this report.