Smoke chokes GB

Vici Papajohn/Gulf Breeze News Bay Cliffs resident Curtis Thompson stands in his back yard and watches the National Parks Service (NPS) firefighters hose down hot spots and sparks as the forest area blazes behind his home. Prior to the planned controlled burn, the NPS clear cut the 50' cleared road evident in the foreground of the picture to place a safety barrier between the park land and the homes. When winds unexpectedly shifted, the homes were engulfed in smoke. While Thompson watched, fire jumped from tree to tree, and the firefighters quickly hosed down the area. "The wind was supposed to blow the fire and smoke away," Thompson said with irony, "but it turned around. They told me white smoke meant it was under control, and there's a lot of that."