BALDWIN, Fla. -- While Tropical Storm Beryl caused damage for a number of homeowners, it was actually a huge help out in the forest.
The Baldwin Bay fire has been raging since March 19. It's charred 952 acres. Patrick Deren, Forest Area Supervisor with the Florida Forest Service says Tropical Storm Beryl's rain was a life-saver.
"It was a very good blessing for us pretty much statewide," he said. "We got somewhere between two and a quarter and up to 15 inches of rain in different parts of the state."
Despite the punch Beryl packed, Forest Service folks had been hoping for more.
"I was hoping for at least six inches on the fire and we got just under five and as you can see we still have a few smokes around."
Wednesday, large charred trees came crashing down. The ground is soft because of the rain and the roots have burned out from the fire.
"Its a good thing on the short term," he said. "Eliminates the hazard of having to work around them if they're on the ground. Long term, if they do dry out they're again available to burn so long-term it could be a bad thing."
So while North Florida continues picking up after Beryl, forestry folks are already waiting for the next big rainmaker to form.
"Hopefully from our position we get another one or at least get this to kick in to our normal summer afternoon storm pattern and help us out with continued rainfall over the next several months."
Only five to ten percent is still left burning. Crews are hoping for more rain this week to put this fire completely out.
The Caribbean Circle fire in Clay County is also almost out as well. It received nine and a half inches of rain from Beryl.
