February 23, 2023 – While many spent their Saturday (February 18) at the Speedway in Daytona Beach, 32 members and friends of the Hammock Community Association spent the day collecting garbage along about 5 miles of State Road A1A and portions of the MalaCompra Road and the bike trail. By day’s end, the volunteers had collected 74 bags of trash.
“It was a great day to make the Hammock even more beautiful than it already is,” said Cindy Flowers, a crew leader for the cleanup. “There were so many community stewards making the area nicer by cleaning up trash with their neighbors.”
Volunteers worked the area from the Hammock Dunes Bridge to the Los Lagos development at Matanzas Shores.
“Along with the 74 bags of trash, two tires and other pieces of large debris were removed from the side of A1A,” said Joyce Skaff, also a crew leader, after the physical labor was complete. “All of us who showed up did so to help keep our area clean and scenic.”
Flagler County Attorney Al Hadeed was one of the volunteers. It was a day of mixed feelings for him – pride at the turnout and resulting improvements and frustrated at the potential fire hazard of the most common trash item: cigarette butts.
“I found so many along the roadway,” said volunteer Kathy Viehe of the abundance of cigarette butts found along the roadway. “It was pretty disgusting.”
Hadeed reported finding them along the paved bike path in the segment he cleaned from MalaCompra to the A1A Center.
“Cigarette butts right in the woods,” Hadeed said. “It’s already a tinder box.”
The wildfire risk is increasing for Flagler County. The Keetch-Byram Drought Index (KBDI) is a scale used by the Florida Forest Service to gauge the risk with 0 being the lowest and 800 being the highest currently sits with a 281-mean average. That number is as low as 151 in some areas but as high as 417 in others.
“The KBDI has definitely been creeping up,” said Fire Rescue Chief Mike Tucker. “All it takes is one cigarette thrown out of a car window into some dry vegetation and we can have a problem. I ask all our visitors and residents to use care.”
