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Florida leads the nation in prescribed burns for wildfire mitigation efforts

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Published  January 13, 2025 6:04pm EST
Florida
FOX 35 Orlando

Prescribed burns help Florida cutdown on wildfire risk

FOX 35's Marie Edinger speaks to officials about the importance of prescribed burns in Florida and how it helps cutdown on wildfire risk.

The Brief

    • The state and Federal Governments responsible for California’s forests have had a troubled history when it comes to prescribed burns, and last year have pulled back on the amount of land they planned to tend to.
    • Prescribed burns help prevent wildfires.
    • Florida’s Forest Service says they’re the nation’s leader in prescribed burns and set the record in 2024.
    • Florida’s annual "Prescribed Fire Awareness Week" goes from January 26th to February 1st this year.

ORLANDO, Fla. - The state and Federal Governments responsible for California’s forests have had a troubled history when it comes to prescribed burns, and last year had pulled back on the amount of land they planned to tend to.

Florida’s Forest Service says they’re the nation’s leader in prescribed burns. 

Cliff Frazier, a Wildlife Mitigation Specialist with the Florida Forest Service, says in 2024 they set a record for prescribed burns.

"We go out there and try to eliminate…the possibility of a catastrophic wildfire," Frazier explained.

That investment and dedication to prescribed burns came after what’s known as the 1998 Firestorm – one of the worst wildfire disasters in the state’s history.

Nearly half a million acres burned, with fires or emergency status reaching every single county in the state.

"We learned some valuable lessons as far as our agency goes," said Frazier. "So we had to be more proactive and stay on top of it."

Every inch of land the Florida Forest Service manages has a prescribed burn schedule, so it’ll be burned every few years. On a day when the humidity, heat and wind are just right, rangers and wildland firefighters cut out fire lines as an end point, and purposely light a portion of the forest on fire.

"Prescribed fire, that's good fire. That's the fire that people need to understand. We're not out here just killing the animals in the trees and just burning up property just to see smoke go up," said Frazier. "You're burning this underbrush, the dry underbrush, the debris left over from the hurricane and so forth and so on. So, in the event a wildfire comes behind it, it's not going to be devastating or catastrophic."

Florida’s annual "Prescribed Fire Awareness Week" goes from January 26th to February 1st this year.

The Source: The information in this article comes from the Florida Forest Service and reporting done by FOX 35's Marie Edinger.

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