{"id":241131,"date":"2026-04-22T00:32:23","date_gmt":"2026-04-22T00:32:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/241131\/"},"modified":"2026-04-22T00:32:23","modified_gmt":"2026-04-22T00:32:23","slug":"a-look-at-floridas-largest-active-wildfires","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/241131\/","title":{"rendered":"A look at Florida’s largest active wildfires"},"content":{"rendered":"

More than 100 significant wildfires are burning across the state, reducing air quality readings, limiting visibility and, in some cases, causing evacuations.<\/p>\n

Many of the more impactful fires are located across North and North-Central Florida, where dry vegetation, occasionally gusty winds and a significant lack of rainfall have combined to create dangerous fire conditions.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is not just an isolated area,\u201d said Wilton Simpson, Florida’s commissioner of agriculture. \u201cWe\u2019ve got fires all over the state today.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Florida<\/p>\n

Florida active fires and smoke as of Monday, April 21, 2026.<\/p>\n

Emergency officials warn that the situation could worsen in the coming weeks, with little to no rainfall expected in long-range forecasts.<\/p>\n

Preparing for the possibility of an extended fire season, state officials are planning to pre-position resources around Tallahassee, Cross City, Jacksonville and Lake City to ensure a faster response to blazes.<\/p>\n

Simpson said the preparedness efforts mirror those used for hurricanes, with assets being pre-positioned ahead of worsening conditions.<\/p>\n

Largest wildfires across the state<\/p>\n

The largest wildfire is burning along the Clay\u2013Putnam County line, south of Jacksonville, and is known as the \u201cRailroad Fire.\u201d<\/p>\n

The fire is believed to have started Sunday as a train passed through the area, sending sparks into dry vegetation.<\/p>\n

The blaze has burned more than 4,000 acres and was last reported to be about 50% contained.<\/p>\n

Due to its proximity to homes, evacuation orders have been issued and a shelter has been opened for residents impacted by the flames.<\/p>\n

According to the Clay County Sheriff\u2019s Office, a recurring issue has been people driving around fires to watch the activity and to take videos.<\/p>\n

The agency said that behavior hinders efforts of first responders and puts additional people in danger.<\/p>\n

\"List<\/p>\n

List of Florida’s largest wildfires.<\/p>\n

Other large wildfires are burning in Baker, Dixie, Broward and Collier counties.<\/p>\n

Combined, the state\u2019s more than 100 active wildfires have burned over 15,000 acres, but no homes have been reported lost, and there have been no fatalities.<\/p>\n

Threat for additional wildfires remains<\/p>\n

Officials warn that with the state’s dry conditions, the smallest of sparks can start a large wildfire, which is why abiding by burn bans is critical.<\/p>\n

Homeowners are also encouraged to create a defensible space around their properties by clearing debris, cleaning gutters and removing flammable materials.<\/p>\n

According to firefighters, properties should have at least 100 feet of cleared space around them.<\/p>\n

Firewood and propane tanks should also be kept at least 50 feet away from any structures.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

State fire officials stress that while crews work aggressively to contain fires, limited resources mean they may not be able to protect every structure.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe most important thing we\u2019re going to do is save lives,\u201d Simpson said. \u201cThe second most important thing is to save property.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wildfires impact air quality<\/p>\n

Air quality readings have been impacted in neighborhoods around and downwind of the wildfires.<\/p>\n

The Air Quality Index, commonly known as the AQI, has a range of 0 to 500, with lower values equating to cleaner air and higher values indicating unhealthy conditions.<\/p>\n

These numbers correspond to six color-coded categories, which range from green in areas with the least concern to maroon, where conditions are considered hazardous.<\/p>\n

During the most recent fires, most observation sites in proximity to a fire have remained in the yellow, or moderate, category for pollution.<\/p>\n

\"Florida<\/p>\n

Florida Air Quality Index readings as of 4\/21\/2026.<\/p>\n

According to the Environmental Protection Agency, moderate levels for airborne particles are generally acceptable, except for those who are sensitive to air pollution.<\/p>\n

When levels start to deteriorate into the orange, red and purple categories, alerts are usually issued warning the public of the health impacts of being outside.<\/p>\n

In larger wildfires, it is common to see areas fall under hazardous air quality levels for several days.<\/p>\n

\"AQI<\/p>\n

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention<\/p>\n

AQI Index scale<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"More than 100 significant wildfires are burning across the state, reducing air quality readings, limiting visibility and, in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":241132,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[28,30,29],"class_list":["post-241131","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-florida","tag-florida","tag-florida-headlines","tag-florida-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/241131","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=241131"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/241131\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/241132"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=241131"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=241131"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=241131"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}