Sunday, July 8 at about 3 pm, I noticed a large plume of smoke in the air as I was heading to Publix on Ben Hill Griffin and Corkscrew. The vicinity looked like it could be coming somewhere near Copperleaf and so I called Don Lozzi to investigate further.
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| The view driving along Corkscrew Road looking south |
Don drove to the maintenance facility road and called back saying that there was a large fire on the east side of I-75 in the Edison Estates vacant land and that thick smoke was covering most of Copperleaf. Within a short period of time, Ron Fowler, Peter Morin and Tom Bertucci were also calling to report that ash was now falling across Copperleaf.
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| The view from the Bertucci residence across holes 4 and 6 |
Using my home computer I was able to turn irrigation sprinklers on along the fence perimeter of hole 6 and also on the putting greens to help cool things down. Fortunately, Fire Fighters were able to contain the 40 acre blaze by 6 pm.
Monday morning came with a thick blanket of smoke still covering our northern holes as there was very little breeze to help dissipate the haze. The pro shop was asked to warn our golfers of the thick smoke on holes 2 through 9. At 8 am, this shot was taken looking across the 4th hole with heavy smoke sitting on the water and the golf course.
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| Looking east toward the fire form the bridge in Whispering Ridge |
