{"id":152353,"date":"2026-02-12T01:08:13","date_gmt":"2026-02-12T01:08:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/152353\/"},"modified":"2026-02-12T01:08:13","modified_gmt":"2026-02-12T01:08:13","slug":"dry-weather-fuels-fire-danger-across-central-florida","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/152353\/","title":{"rendered":"Dry weather fuels fire danger across Central Florida"},"content":{"rendered":"

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. \u2013 As dry weather increases the risk of fire danger across Central Florida, our News 6 crew got an up-close look at how fire officials and the Florida Forest Service reduce the risk of a wildfire spreading out of control. <\/p>\n

On Wednesday, Orange County alerted residents in the Apopka area that prescribed burn would be taking place at Kelly Park. A spokesperson for the parks department said it\u2019s an important land management tool:<\/p>\n

Reduce Wildfire Risks<\/p>\n

Prescribed fires help manage fuel loads in forests, reducing the intensity and spread of potential wildfire<\/p>\n

Enhance Ecosystem Health<\/p>\n

Prescribed fires promote the growth of native vegetation and improve habitats for wildlife<\/p>\n

Disease Control<\/p>\n

Prescribed fire can help control plant diseases and pests, contributing to healthier ecosystems.\u00a0<\/p>\n

This week, dry conditions have fueled brush fires across central Florida. On Tuesday, a 94-acre fire shut down C.R. 44A. <\/p>\n

There was a 170-acre wildfire on the south end of Flagler County near the Volusia border before a burn ban went into effect. <\/p>\n

[BELOW: Flagler County under local state of emergency, burn ban after massive wildfire]<\/p>\n

According to the Florida Forest Service, the following counties in central Florida have enacted burn bans<\/a> as of Feb. 11: Brevard, Marion, Polk, and Sumter. <\/p>\n

News 6 Chief Meteorologist Candace Campos said burn bans go into effect when the Keetch-Byram Drought Index (KBDI) reaches or exceeds 500. <\/p>\n

\u201cWhich is why areas like Marion County, Sumter County are already there,\u201d Campos explained. \u201cI know Brevard and Flagler also issued those burn bans. So this is just the start of what will be a pretty dry and kind of dicey season.\u201d<\/p>\n

[BELOW: Central Florida drought conditions worsen; more burn bans expected]<\/p>\n

Campos said fire danger is expected to continue rising. Florida is now experiencing its worst early February drought in decades. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s the worst we\u2019ve seen this early in the year in about 25 years,\u201d said Campos. \u201cWe have to go all the way back to 2001 to see numbers as bad as they are currently. <\/p>\n

Breaking News Alerts<\/p>\n

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Copyright 2026 by WKMG ClickOrlando – All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. \u2013 As dry weather increases the risk of fire danger across Central Florida, our News…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":152354,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[10514,1563,855,28,30,29,1335,221],"class_list":{"0":"post-152353","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-florida","8":"tag-apopka","9":"tag-environment","10":"tag-fire","11":"tag-florida","12":"tag-florida-headlines","13":"tag-florida-news","14":"tag-orange-county","15":"tag-weather"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/152353","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=152353"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/152353\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/152354"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=152353"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=152353"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=152353"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}