Wildfire threat remains elevated amid ongoing drought<\/a><\/p>\nMayor Donna Deegan and Jacksonville Fire Rescue Department Chief Percy Golden II held a press conference to address the conditions.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs many of you are aware, Jacksonville is facing wildfire conditions this year that we don\u2019t often see. The data is very telling,\u201d Deegan said. \u201cWe have had ten times as many wildfires this January as we did last January. And those fires have burned nearly 50 times more acreage.\u201d<\/p>\n
Deegan said the city is coordinating prevention and response with the JFRD, the Florida Forest Service and the National Weather Service, and has support from the state under Executive Order 2633. <\/p>\n
\u201cThis is no longer time for business as usual,\u201d she said. \u201cSo I\u2019m asking every Jacksonville resident to take this threat seriously. Sign up for alerts. Take the time to clear vegetation around your home. Use caution with anything that could cause fire outdoors. And if you see a fire, call 911 immediately.\u201d<\/p>\n
Golden II said the department has seen a sharp increase in wildfires. <\/p>\n
\u201cSo far this year, JFRD has responded to 29 wildfire incidents compared to 13 from the same period last year,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
He noted the department maintains nine brush trucks specially designed for wildland firefighting and stressed the danger where homes meet wild lands.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese are the highest areas of concern,\u201d Golden said. \u201cThe condition of this severe drought, the vegetation and any ignition source, creates the potential for fire that will rapidly spread.\u201d He urged residents to \u201cclear vegetation around your home at least 30 feet\u201d and to avoid parking vehicles on dry grass or using spark-producing equipment in windy conditions.<\/p>\n
Mike Work, a Florida Forest Service representative, said the agency has responded to more fires this year and is ready to support local efforts. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe are currently up to 11 fires right now, up to 50 acres,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
Work attributed the increase to dried and cured fuels from lack of rainfall and recent freezes. He noted the agency has tractor-plowing units, Type 6 engines and aviation resources available to assist.<\/p>\n
Ben Nelson of the National Weather Service in Jacksonville warned forecasts through the spring are unlikely to bring significant relief. <\/p>\n
\u201cUnfortunately, the forecast heading into the spring months for our area is not favorable for significant rainfall,\u201d he said. \u201cThe National Drought Monitor now places us in an extreme drought. We have not seen this type of drought in our area since May of 2012.\u201d <\/p>\n
He cautioned that windy days could \u201cexacerbate the spread of any wildfires\u201d that develop.<\/p>\n
Andre Ayoub, chief of the city\u2019s emergency preparedness division, said year-round readiness matters. <\/p>\n
\u201cPreparedness matters. Preparedness. Not just something we talk about during hurricane season,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
He encouraged residents to sign up for city alerts, keep a go-bag and plan evacuation routes.<\/p>\n
Officials reminded residents that outdoor burning is prohibited without a permit in Duval County. <\/p>\n
\u201cIf you don\u2019t have a burn permit, don\u2019t burn,\u201d Deegan said.<\/p>\n
She urged residents to remove their yard debris rather than burn it.<\/p>\n
The officials said the goal of the briefing was to inform, not alarm, and asked media partners to help educate the public about simple steps that reduce wildfire risk. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe want everybody to be informed and stay Jax ready,\u201d Ayoub said.<\/p>\n
Copyright 2026 by WJXT News4JAX – All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"JACKSONVILLE, Fla. \u2013 City officials warned Friday that Jacksonville is facing unusually high wildfire risk after a dry…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":154731,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[1039,116,118,117,12814,15853],"class_list":{"0":"post-154730","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-jacksonville","8":"tag-duval-county","9":"tag-jacksonville","10":"tag-jacksonville-headlines","11":"tag-jacksonville-news","12":"tag-jfrd","13":"tag-mayor-donna-deegan"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/154730","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=154730"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/154730\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/154731"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=154730"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=154730"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=154730"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}