07-05-2025
Mussett Bayou wildfire: 5 years later
WALTON COUNTY, Fla. (WMBB) – On the afternoon of May 6, 2020, South Walton Fire District first responders answered a call regarding an illegal burn.
In just an instant, the wildfire spread 343 acres. Officials said they had an eye on the red flag weather conditions before the fire erupted.
'The cards were absolutely stacked against us, if you will. You know, so that particular day, we had very, extremely low relative humidity levels, rather uncharacteristic and very dry conditions, and strong winds. All of those things together cumulatively created very challenging conditions for us as fire spread,' South Walton Fire District Fire Chief Ryan Crawford said.
115 structure firefighters and around 50 Florida Forest Service personnel were on the scene trying to control the flames.
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That evening, residents across Santa Rosa Beach and the Mussett Bayou area were ordered to evacuate their homes.
'When we showed up on scene, you could tell this fire was going to be a containment issue. It actually jumped 98 well before fire ever got to the north side of 98. It was already south of 98. And it was definitely a fire that was going to have our hands full that day,' Florida Forest Service Forestry Supervisor Walter Bowers said.
After three hours of battling flames, it had been contained. Following the fire, damages were assessed.
Investigators found that 59 properties, 34 homes, and over 300 acres of land were damaged or destroyed during the wildfire. Officials said the community support is what helped them prosper.
'Here are people losing everything they've ever lived for. And they're the ones that are leading the charge with the supplies and the food, and the drinks. And it was just overwhelming,' Fire Marshal Sammy Sanchez said.
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Since then, the area has been rebuilt. New homes have gone up, trees have grown, and fire mitigation efforts have expanded.
'We enhanced our capacity to be able to respond to these types of incidents here in South Walton. We have predetermined mechanisms in place. It's important that we do what we can to prevent history from repeating itself here because it can happen,' Crawford said.
A week after the fire, authorities arrested Santa Rosa Beach resident Allen Boyd Smith and charged him with reckless burning of land, burning illegal materials, and an open burning violation.
Two years later he was sentenced to one-year probation and 100 hours of community service. And was ordered to pay $15,500 in restitution.
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