As of Tuesday, May 13, 2008, emergency crews have been staging at Valkaria Airport to deal with the massive brush fires burning throughout Malabar, Grant-Valkaria, and Palm Bay. Governor Charlie Crist just toured the area and has declared southern Brevard County a disaster area. The airport itself did suffer some damage, but it could be much worse. The fire that went through on Monday, May 12 burned through the wooded area towards the approach end of runway 14, burned up to the corner of the scrub area near the "T" in Greenbrooke St., and burned some of the grass near the office trailer (the office was fine, contrary to initial reports). I believe there was minor damage to the Mosquito Control facilities, but haven't yet confirmed that... they clearly weren't destroyed. Perhaps most importantly, the T-hangars and aircraft were OK. Tuesday evening, a flare-up occurred in the woods east of the intersection of runways 32 and 28, which was responded to by a Forest Service Huey with a "bambi bucket".

A TFR has been placed over much of Palm Bay, Malabar, and Grant-Valkaria up to 3000 feet AGL to provide a safe environment for firefighting aircraft including helicopters, fixed-wing spotters, and air tankers. Please avoid the area until the scene is cleared and the TFR is lifted. If in doubt, contact ATC while you're still well clear of the area.

Should there be further fire threats to X59, we will bring you news ASAP.