By Kyle Coppola
Smoke from Mulch Fire May Affect Nearby Lake County Residents
TAVARES, Fla. — Residents living near Lake County’s Solid Waste Facility in Tavares may notice drifting smoke in the air in the coming days as a large mulch fire continues to smolder.
The fire, which began this past week, involves mulch spread across an area roughly the size of a football field. Officials say the mulch is expected to continue burning indefinitely.
Lake County Fire Rescue crews remain on site alongside the County’s Solid Waste Department and the Florida Forest Service to monitor and manage the fire.
“We’ve been dealing with some mulch piles the past few days, and our concern is the drift smoke reaching nearby communities,” said Lake County Fire Rescue Deputy Chief of Operations Anthony Cuellar. “We’re being proactive in working to extinguish any remaining fires in the mulch over the next few days.”
(You can see the piles on fire in the background. Photo Credit – Lake County Florida.)
Cuellar emphasized that there is no immediate danger but acknowledged the smoke could become a nuisance. He urged residents to take precautions.
“As the day and week progress, we expect to see drift smoke. The best thing residents can do is keep their windows and doors closed to minimize exposure,” he said.
Residents experiencing respiratory issues are advised to call 911. Cuellar reiterated that the best way to prevent breathing problems is to avoid smoke exposure by staying indoors with windows and doors shut.
Officials have not said when the fire will be fully extinguished. Each mulch fire can be different and can take days, weeks or months to extinguish fully. For more info click here:
Kyle Coppola was born in Newton, Massachusetts and received his Bachelor of Fine Arts in Communications from Curry College in 2016. After traveling to Florida on a family vacation, he decided he could not get enough of the warm weather and made the move from snowy Massachusetts to central Florida 8 years ago.
For the last decade Kyle has gained valuable experience in social media content creation, marketing and sales, writing, video production, sports announcing and even broadcasting for local radio stations, such as FM 102.9 in The Villages and FM 91.5 in Massachusetts. Every year he volunteers at The Villages Charter High School as a play-by-play sports announcer for the football games as well as a public address announcer for the basketball games, including the annual Battle at The Villages Tournament.
Outside the office Kyle is a husband and father to two beautiful girls along with their cat. In his spare time he likes to spend time with his family, travel, play golf and swim. He is also a huge sports junkie and even bigger motorsports fan and loves to attend racing events when he can.
