Hi, I don't (of course) know if you lived in New Smyrna in 98, but the fire I described started out near Lake Harney and roared through my area and up through North Brevard and into Southern Volusia. I don't recall how close it got to your area, think it got real close, or into Edgewater, but it was a hell of an afternoon and night. When it was passing my home it was moving so fast/furious you could hear the palmetto stands exploding into flame (racing across the Buck Lake Preserve, which borders the end of my street). The folks at the end of the street said deer, hogs, bears, raccoons and every other animal we have were running crazy trying to escape (even snakes!!!).

It was a bad summer, I think something on the order of 7-800,000 acres burned statewide. I never want to go through anything like that again. Smoke was so thick you couldn't see anything, but the sound was incredible. My family evacuated, but I (and many neighbors) remained. I had hoses set up at my house, and both on either side of me, prepared to fight it while we had water, luckily that held out. Hurricanes give you time, fires generally run you out, or run you down, and do it quickly.
Take care,
olemikey