News Cast for June 16th:
Okeechobee County Sheriff Noel Stephen honored two men who helped authorities at a tragic fatal crash on May 13.
Two pickups collided on route 68 east and both drivers were killed.
Deputy Bryan Holden said two good Samaritans were on the scene before first responders and helped put out the blaze and provide emergency dispatchers with information about the incident.
Sheriff Stephen recognized Jamie White and Jon Liakos for extraordinary bravery. They ran to the crash even though it was very foggy and visibility was low.
Holden said the two men ran toward the fire and not away from it.
Stephen said the actions of these two men were not only courageous but instrumental in ensuing an accurate and timely response to the already chaotic and tragic event.
He went on to state the two men worked alongside Deputy Holden with calm resolve and were willing to put themselves at risk to help others.
Indiantown Firemen said seven people lost their place to live after an electrical fire tore through a mobile Sunday, afternoon.
The blaze was reported at 1:30 pm in the 11000 block of SW Kanner Highway.
Fire crews found the mobile home fully engulfed as they arrived.
The Florida State Fire Marshall will investigate the cause which is not considered suspicious.
There were no injuries reported and the American Red Cross came to the assistance of the affected residents.
The Lake Okeechobee Coalition heard an optimistic report on the health of Lake Okeechobee as the recovery phase comes to an end.
John Mitnik of the South Florida Water Management District said there has been some improvement in the amount of submerged vegetation especially in the marsh areas.
Mitnik said it will likely be one year before they fully learn how successful the recovery operation was.
He said there have been noticeable improvements in water quality this year. He said it will be great if we don’t get a lot of rain in a short period of time.
“Historically multiple years of dryer conditions lead to sustained success and recovery.”
He said there has also been a lot of wading bird activity on the lake this year.
“We were anticipating a fairly dry, dry season, which is ideal when your trying to bring the lake down. You don’t want to bring it down during a wet period because there is little likelihood of success in that scenario.”