Wildfire season starting to ramp up in Northeast Florida ahead of wet summer months

Wildfire season is ramping up in Northeast Florida because April is one of the driest months in the area, and it only takes one spark to start a devastating fire.

Action News Jax Chief Meteoroligist Mike Buresh says the fire forecast doesn't look terribly bad for the local area at the moment. He says timely rains have done a good job to wet things down just enough.

But Buresh says we won't hit the true wet season until late May or after that, so the worry is a dry week or two mixed with a lightning strike in the wrong spot.

"It can happen any time," says Annaleasa Winter of the Florida Forest Service. "We just go a couple days, a couple of weeks without rain; and if we remember the fire season of 1998, we were flooding going into that season. So anything can change."

She says the key thing to remember is to be prepared. That means you should have a supply kit and an evacuation plan in place.

"When the time comes to evacuate, do so immediately," Winter says.

A lot of areas in St. Johns, Baker and Nassau counties consist of new developments in what used to be rural areas. Safety experts in those cities say that makes it even more important to pay attention to weather and the possibility of a fire starting at any time.

"It's always a concern when we have so much fuel in areas where we've got people coming in, moving in and building houses, so it's something we're always keeping an eye on," says Greg Foster with Nassau County Emergency Management.

By fuel he means pine straw and dry leaves or wood.

Winter says the worst weather conditions each day are between 2 and 5 p.m. She says that's when the moisture content is the lowest, and the flammable materials are more likely to ignite.

"People need to think about that when they're burning yard debris," Winter says.

She says the long-range forecast through the summer is showing above average temperatures and above average precipitation, so that means it should be an average fire season.

For a full breakdown of the upcoming fire season with advice from multiple area experts, you can listen to the 2019 Wildfire Special on New 104.5 WOKV on Monday at 6 p.m.