Sunday, February 24th,, about noon, Chip Vankirk, a 15 year resident of St. James City and owner of a 1991 Lincoln Town Car, was driving on Stringfellow Road in Bokeelia heading South when he smelled something burning. The smell got stronger and at the intersection of Howard Road 

and Stringfellow, Chip pulled his car off the main road and in a cleared field. Shortly after exiting the car the flames began barreling from under the hood. A 911 call was placed and the Matlacha/Pine Island Fire Department was dispatched to the scene. There were two fire trucks and one rescue unit along with 6 firemen at the scene.
     It took about 20 minutes for the fire to be brought under control. The entire car was gutted. No one was reported injured. 

The major repairs on the draw span began February 11th and although expected to continue through the 14th were completed one day ahead of schedule by  Coastal Construction, Inc. The most critical phase, repair and/or replacement of major steel beam supports.  The tender closed the bridge to traffic from 10pm to 5am  for three days only.  Water traffic experienced normal operation. The span had short periods, at midnight and 4am, where traffic was able to pass. EMS had a helicopter on standby in the event of an emergency, however, it wasn't needed. The remaining repairs will continue during the day through March and day traffic should experience no unusual delays. 
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      The Lee County Department of Transportation held a town hall meeting to discuss possible improvements for the intersection of Pine Island Road and Stringfellow Road. The meeting was  held from 5:30 PM to 7:00 PM on Tuesday, January 29, 2002 at the Pine Island Elementary School. 
      This purpose was to receive public input regarding the intersection of Pine Island Road and Stringfellow Road (otherwise known as the way stop at Pine Island Center). 
  Representatives from Lee County DOT, Vicki Mac Farlan and Don Deberry were faced with questions about the Matlacha repairs instead of questions about the 4 -way intersection. They indicated that major bridge repairs were already close to completion and that the purpose of the meeting was discussion of the possible upgrades to the way stop. At this suggestion, the audience, with a few exceptions, loudly indicated that they wanted Lee County to make no improvements to the intersection.  After repeated unsucessful attempts by the County representatives to engage in a dialogue about the options available they adjourned the meeting after about 20 minutes.  There were minority opinions suggesting this was a potentially deadly intersection and any solution would take years to impliment anyway.  Questions about the project or would like information , contact Vicki Mac Farlan at the number above or be e-mail at Vmacfarlan@cella.cc.