Division of Forestry investigating incident
 
By Kathleen Kernicky and Juan Ortega
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
Copyright 2007 South Florida Sun-Sentinel
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Business News

BROWARD COUNTY, Fla. — Smoke and ash from an Everglades brush fire moved away from Broward County on Friday and was not expected to return this weekend. But for the camper whose malfunctioning swamp buggy authorities say sparked the blaze, the heat is just beginning.

The state Division of Forestry is investigating whether the rider should be forced to pay the costs of fighting the fire, which could reach several thousand dollars. State law allows the agency to demand reimbursement if negligence causes a fire, and on average, it bills about 300 people a year, said Terence McElroy, a spokesman for the state Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services.

"It's important the public understand if you start a fire and it's found to be from negligence, you could be responsible for the bills," said Scott Peterich, mitigation specialist at the forestry division. "This is very serious. We are in drought conditions."

The forestry division collected almost $170,000 in 2004, and about $106,000 in 2005, the latest available numbers.

"All of our time and equipment is logged and that has a value," said Peterich, whose agency has several crews, engines and a helicopter fighting the fire that began on Monday. "The helicopter alone bills out at several hundred dollars an hour."

The swamp buggy rider, whose name was not released, was traveling to a lodge when the vehicle caught fire Monday, apparently because of an electrical malfunction. Later that day, smoke from a brush fire in the area forced the Highway Patrol to shut down Alligator Alley for several hours.

The forestry division has determined the buggy fire started the brush fire, said agency spokesman David Utley. Although the vehicle fire was an accident, the decision whether to bill the rider "is under investigation," Peterich said.

On Friday, a state helicopter was busy as crews emptied 320-gallon buckets of water over the blaze, which has already consumed 38,035 acres stretching north of Alligator Alley between U.S. 27 to the east and the Miami Canal on the west. There was no threat to property and no reports of injuries.

"We're actively managing the fire," Peterich said. "It's running its course. The last few days, the fire was so immense we weren't able to put [ground] equipment out there."