The fires disrupting Amtrak service are part of a broader wildfire threat across Florida this week. Seminole County Assistant Fire Chief Tod Zellers said a combination of drought, low humidity and increasing winds has created especially dangerous conditions. – The fires disrupting Amtrak service are part of a broader wildfire threat across Florida this week. Seminole County Assistant Fire Chief Tod Zellers said a combination of drought, low humidity and increasing winds has created especially dangerous conditions.
“The drought index continues to climb, so it’s getting drier and drier,” Zellers said. “The relative humidity is very low here, as compared to what we normally see.”
He said the wind is the biggest concern for fire crews this week, as it can rapidly change a fire’s direction and push flames past containment lines.
“As the wind picks up, it changes the direction of the fire,” Zellers said. “If the wind changes direction, you can be on the flank by the side of a fire. And all of a sudden, with the wind changing, now it’s burning straight at you.”
[WATCH: What to know about drought concerns in Florida]
Zellers said spot fires — where embers travel and ignite new blazes away from the main fire — are also a major challenge.
“We may put a big fire line around a 10-acre fire, and the wind just pushes it straight over that fire line and keeps us from containing it,” he said.
Zellers said crews in Seminole County recently responded to an approximately 3-acre brush fire near Lake Jesup.
“We got fortunate on that when the wind was blowing it straight to the lake,” he said. “But it did present some challenges just based on location, away from the roadways and the muck and mud down by the lakefront.”
The cause of that fire remains unknown. Zellers said this time of year, any number of things can spark a blaze — from lightning strikes to vehicles with dragging trailer chains.
“There’s a lot of different things that can cause these fires right now,” he said. “People need to be really alert and aware of what’s going on.”
Nationally, Zellers said about 1.7 million acres of wildland have burned across the United States so far this year. In Florida alone, approximately six active wildland fires are burning, with roughly 13,000 to 14,000 acres scorched statewide.
[WATCH: Brush fire concerns rise among worst drought Florida has seen since 2001]
How to protect your home, stay safe
Zellers urged residents to avoid any open burning this week and take steps to protect their properties.
“Be safe. With the winds blowing, let’s not have any open burning,” he said. “No bonfires, no outside cooking. Definitely no brush piles burning. Be aware of your surroundings — just because the conditions are there, anything can quickly get out of control.”
For those living near wooded areas, Zellers recommends creating a buffer zone between homes and the tree line.
“Give yourself a buffer zone of between 30 and 100 feet between you and the woods,” he said. “Don’t have any overhanging trees. Cut out any of the undergrowth and underbrush that’s near your home to keep the limit of fuels between the fire and your house.”
He also stressed that fire crews need clear access to properties in the event of a fire, urging residents to trim trees and remove obstacles that could block emergency vehicles.