FLORIDA FIRE SERVICE May 2017 8 M any places around our great nation have a particular time during the year that, for wildland fires, is tagged as “fire season”. Here in Florida, we routinely experience an increase in wildland fire activity from April through June; however, due primarily to our climate and volatile fuels, Florida truly has a 12-month fire season. We have been fortunate in the recent past with a run of years with below average wildfire activity. In fact, in 2014 Florida experienced 2,000 fires that burned 88,955 acres statewide. This represents the lowest annual number of fires since 1981. In stark contrast this year, as of April 20, Florida had already experienced over 1,630 wildfires burning more than 88,000 acres, with significant fires in Broward, Collier, Glades, Hernando, Marion, Nassau, Polk, and the West Mims Fire straddling the Florida and Georgia State line near the Okefenokee Swamp. All this has promted the Governor to issue an Executive Order in support of the increasing responses to wildfires throughout the State. To say that the weather is the most common reason for increased wildfire danger and activity is really an understatement; weather is also the key factor that causes wildfires to spread and intensify once they are ignited. Research has shown that there is correlation between acreage burned in Florida wildfires and sea surface temperature (SST) anomalies in a region of the tropical Pacific Ocean. When SSTs are warm (El Niño), fire activity is reduced. When SSTs are cold (La Niña), fire activity is enhanced. Indeed, over the past seventeen years, the five most active years by number of fires and by acres burned featured La Niña conditions immediately prior to or during Florida’s peak wildfire activity. We have transitioned into a neutral phase from a brief El Niño which was preceded by a lengthy La Niña. El Niño is forecast to return by early summer. We entered April, which is typically our dry season, with a rainfall deficit in many parts of the state. This was compounded by severe and increasing drought conditions in much of the Florida Peninsula, due to the lag in response by the weather to the transition from La Niña. Although lightning-caused fires generally increase in the spring of each year, on average 80% of all wildfires in Florida are human-caused. Because many of our fires are started in Florida due to preventable causes, our joint FFS/Fire Department wildfire prevention and mitigation efforts are critically important throughout the year. Wildfires that don’t start cannot injure residents, firefighters, or cause damage to structures. Our efforts in wildfire mitigation focus on hazardous fuel reduction and, equally as important, information and education on how residents can protect their own home and property from the destructive effects of wildfire, while also working together as a community to become more fire adapted. Fire-adapted communities provide less need for active structure protection efforts and provide a safer working environment for firefighters as they protect structures. When fires do occur in our communities, our collective efforts to share the messages of the Ready, Set, Go! program will help our residents and visitors to evacuate quickly in a safe and orderly fashion when instructed to do so. For additional information on things you can do to lower the wildfire risk around homes in your community, how to help in wildfire prevention efforts, and how to spread the preparedness messages before wildfire strikes, please visit our website at www.floridaforestservice.com. By John K. Fish, Fire Chief, Forest Protection Bureau, Florida Forest Service Photo from the West Mims Wildfire on the Florida-Georgia line that was ignited by a lightning strike in the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge on April 6, 2017. Photo courtesy of Florida Forest Service.