Florida Commissioner of Agriculture Wilton Simpson and the Florida Forest Service are urging Floridians to be ready for a potentially busy wildfire season. Florida’s peak wildfire season typically occurs during April, May, and June, and the National Interagency Fire Center has predicted an “above normal wildfire potential” for Florida this season.
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Florida Commissioner of Agriculture Wilton Simpson and the Florida Forest Service are urging Floridians to be ready for a potentially busy wildfire season. Florida’s peak wildfire season typically occurs during April, May, and June, and the National Interagency Fire Center has predicted an “above normal wildfire potential” for Florida this season.
“Don’t wait until you see smoke in the air — create a defensible space around your yard, prepare your homes, make an emergency supply kit, and obey local burn laws,” said Commissioner Simpson. “Every fire prevented is one less fire we must respond to, and that will help ensure the safety of our firefighters and our communities.”
Since January, over 1,000 wildfires have burned over 51,000 acres in Florida. Several areas of the state have been under Red Flag Warnings from the National Weather Service and six counties have enacted burn bans. The Florida Forest Service is encouraging the public to visit BeWildfireReadyFL.com to learn how to protect your life, home, and community.
“Several factors could make this a busy wildfire season, including leftover debris from multiple hurricanes and forecasts calling for less rain this spring,” said Rick Dolan, Director of the Florida Forest Service. “I’m encouraging people to pay attention to the weather, especially wind, relative humidity, and days since rain. Spring is here, and we need to be wildfire ready.”
Florida Wildfire Awareness Week, recognized annually during the first full week of April, was established in recognition of Florida’s devastating 1998 wildfire season, when more than half a million acres burned, and 337 structures were damaged or destroyed by wildfires.
One of the best available tools the Florida Forest Service has been using to fight potentially devastating wildfires is prescribed burning. During the 2024 fiscal year, the Florida Forest Service set an agency record with 277,818 total acres treated on State Forests. That number more than doubled the previous year’s prescribed fire total, and it surpassed the previous annual record from 2014-2015.
There are many tools that can help reduce the chances of a catastrophic wildfire, including creating defensible space, safely burning yard waste, utilizing prescribed burning, and reporting suspicious arson activity. To learn how to protect your life, home, and community, visit BeWildfireReadyFL.com. To view current wildfire conditions and activity, visit FDACS.gov/CurrentWildfires.
The Florida Forest Service, a division of the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, manages more than 1 million acres of state forests and provides forest management assistance on more than 17 million acres of private and community forests. The Florida Forest Service is also responsible for protecting homes, forestland, and natural resources from the devastating effects of wildfire.
For more information about Commissioner Simpson and the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, visit FDACS.gov.
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