Mayor Deegan, along with Jacksonville fire and emergency officials, is urging residents to take immediate action during extreme drought and dry conditions. <\/p>\n
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. \u2014 City leaders said in Friday’s press conference that Jacksonville is now in extreme drought, and wildfire risk is higher than it has been in more than a decade.<\/p>\n
So far this year, Jacksonville Fire and Rescue has responded to 29 wildfires, more than double this time last year. The acreage burned is nearly 50 times that of early 2025.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Officials said the message is simple: This is not business as usual, and small actions now can prevent major disasters later.<\/p>\n
Fire officials said one of the most important steps homeowners can take is creating \u201cdefensible space,” which means clearing at least 30 feet around your home of dead vegetation, brush, pine needles and debris.<\/p>\n
Dead plants from recent freezes, combined with months of little rainfall, are acting as fuel. Removing that material reduces the chance that a wildfire could spread to your house. Officials recommend:<\/p>\n
Removing leaf piles and pine straw from around foundationsTrimming back tree limbs that hang near roofsKeeping gutters clear of dry debrisMaking sure firewood or yard waste is not stacked against your home <\/p>\n
Outdoor burning is prohibited in Duval County without a permit, with officials saying now is not the time to burn debris piles or yard waste. Instead, neighbors should remove it.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you don\u2019t have a burn permit, don\u2019t burn,\u201d fire officials emphasized.<\/p>\n
Officials warn that even everyday activities can spark a wildfire in these dry conditions by avoiding the following:<\/p>\n
Parking vehicles on dry grassUsing equipment that produces sparks during windy daysDiscarding cigarettes near vegetationGrilling near dry brush or debris <\/p>\n
Fire officials said one discarded cigarette or one spark from equipment can ignite a fire that spreads within minutes. If you see smoke or flames, call 911 immediately. A fast response can prevent a small brush fire from becoming a major wildfire.<\/p>\n
Emergency management leaders said wildfire preparedness should be treated like hurricane preparedness, encouraging residents to do the following:<\/p>\n
Sign up for AlertJax<\/a> emergency notificationsKeep an emergency supply kit readyKnow evacuation routes in case conditions worsenMonitor updates from trusted sources like the National Weather Service<\/a> <\/p>\n According to the National Weather Service, Jacksonville is in extreme drought, the worst local drought conditions since 2012. This winter also brought 21 freezes, including eight hard freezes. Those freezes killed vegetation across the area, leaving behind dry fuel ready to burn.<\/p>\n Windy days ahead could make conditions worse, especially as the region enters what is typically its dry spring season. Officials said Jacksonville\u2019s size creates thousands of areas where homes back up to woods, pine trees and palmettos. These \u201cwildland urban interface\u201d zones are especially vulnerable.<\/p>\n City leaders stress they are not trying to alarm residents.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t want people to be afraid,\u201d Mayor Donna Deegan said. \u201cI simply want them to be educated and prepared.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Mayor Deegan, along with Jacksonville fire and emergency officials, is urging residents to take immediate action during extreme…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":154993,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[116,118,117],"class_list":["post-154992","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-jacksonville","tag-jacksonville","tag-jacksonville-headlines","tag-jacksonville-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/154992","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=154992"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/154992\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/154993"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=154992"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=154992"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=154992"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}