{"id":239535,"date":"2026-04-20T22:13:13","date_gmt":"2026-04-20T22:13:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/239535\/"},"modified":"2026-04-20T22:13:13","modified_gmt":"2026-04-20T22:13:13","slug":"drought-conditions-raise-central-floridas-fire-threat-people-need-to-be-really-alert","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/239535\/","title":{"rendered":"Drought conditions raise Central Florida\u2019s fire threat; \u2018people need to be really alert\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

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. \u2013 The fires disrupting Amtrak service<\/a> 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.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe drought index continues to climb, so it\u2019s getting drier and drier,\u201d Zellers said. \u201cThe relative humidity is very low here, as compared to what we normally see.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said the wind is the biggest concern for fire crews this week, as it can rapidly change a fire\u2019s direction and push flames past containment lines.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs the wind picks up, it changes the direction of the fire,\u201d Zellers said. \u201cIf 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\u2019s burning straight at you.\u201d<\/p>\n

[WATCH: What to know about drought concerns in Florida]<\/p>\n

Zellers said spot fires \u2014 where embers travel and ignite new blazes away from the main fire \u2014 are also a major challenge.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe 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,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Zellers said crews in Seminole County recently responded to an approximately 3-acre brush fire near Lake Jesup.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe got fortunate on that when the wind was blowing it straight to the lake,\u201d he said. \u201cBut it did present some challenges just based on location, away from the roadways and the muck and mud down by the lakefront.\u201d<\/p>\n

The cause of that fire remains unknown. Zellers said this time of year, any number of things can spark a blaze \u2014 from lightning strikes to vehicles with dragging trailer chains.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a lot of different things that can cause these fires right now,\u201d he said. \u201cPeople need to be really alert and aware of what\u2019s going on.\u201d<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

[WATCH: Brush fire concerns rise among worst drought Florida has seen since 2001]<\/p>\n

How to protect your home, stay safe<\/p>\n

Zellers urged residents to avoid any open burning this week and take steps to protect their properties.<\/p>\n

\u201cBe safe. With the winds blowing, let\u2019s not have any open burning,\u201d he said. \u201cNo bonfires, no outside cooking. Definitely no brush piles burning. Be aware of your surroundings \u2014 just because the conditions are there, anything can quickly get out of control.\u201d<\/p>\n

For those living near wooded areas, Zellers recommends creating a buffer zone between homes and the tree line.<\/p>\n

\u201cGive yourself a buffer zone of between 30 and 100 feet between you and the woods,\u201d he said. \u201cDon\u2019t have any overhanging trees. Cut out any of the undergrowth and underbrush that\u2019s near your home to keep the limit of fuels between the fire and your house.\u201d<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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Copyright 2026 by WKMG ClickOrlando – All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The fires disrupting Amtrak service are part of a broader wildfire threat across Florida this week. Seminole County…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":239536,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[29325,147,525,28,30,29,1014],"class_list":["post-239535","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-florida","tag-brush-fire","tag-central-florida","tag-drought","tag-florida","tag-florida-headlines","tag-florida-news","tag-seminole-county"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/239535","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=239535"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/239535\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/239536"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=239535"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=239535"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=239535"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}