A series of fast-growing wildfires in Florida has forced 1,100 homes to evacuate.
Three consecutive wildfires burned through Florida over the weekend, consuming more than 10,000 acres of land in the process, and forced more than a thousand residents to leave their homes.
The largest fire, which has grown across 9,000 acres since Friday near Bertha Swamp Road in Gulf County, is a “big boy,” Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said at a press conference on Sunday. “It’s moving very quickly.”
DeSantis noted that several emergency responders were injured during their attempts to quell the fire, but he did not provide detail about how many or what sort of injuries.
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A second fire quickly joined the Bertha Swamp Road fire at Adkins Avenue in Gulf County and expanded to neighboring counties, where it has burned 841 acres and is 35% contained, officials said at a Sunday press release. The Adkins Avenue fire could have spread further but was reportedly hampered by smokey conditions and intense fire activity, officials said.
A third fire began at Star Avenue in Bay County on Sunday, which consumed 250 acres and is considered 45% contained, according to the Florida Forest Service.
A significant portion of the wildfires appears to be burning large areas affected by Hurricane Michael, which struck Florida in 2018.
“Much of the activity on the [Bertha Swamp Road fire] is occurring near where the center/eye-wall of #HurricaneMichael traversed,” said the National Weather Service in Tallahassee on Sunday. “There still remains a lot of blowdown timber from Michael in these areas.”
There were nearly 170 active wildfires in Florida as of Sunday, according to the Florida Forest Service, burning more than 15,000 acres across Florida. Wildfires are uncommon in Florida, with fires starting every three to five years, according to St. Johns County Emergency Management.
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Wildfires are more common in the West, with multiple wildfires burning across California.
