Florida drought leads to surge in wildfires, peak season still ahead

Drought conditions in Florida have helped spur 1,500 wildfires in the first three months of the year, Agriculture Commissioner Wilton Simpson said.

That pace puts the state on track to surpass the 3,100 fires recorded in 2025 and the 2,500 blazes in 2024. Most fires have been contained, but they have burned more than a dozen homes and threatened businesses across the state.

“The busiest part of the fire season is April, May and June, and guess what’s right in front of us,” Simpson told the News Service of Florida.

All of Florida is experiencing drought conditions, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor, increasing the threat of wildfires and lowering groundwater levels.

Simpson’s Department of Agriculture oversees the Florida Forestry Service. Along with other agencies, officials are closely monitoring water levels, wind speeds and temperatures during what they describe as the worst drought in more than a decade.

In North Florida and the Panhandle, the most severe drought conditions span about 14 counties, from Calhoun County to Union County, covering nearly 10 percent of the state.

But wildfires are affecting all of Florida, according to the Forestry Service wildfire map. As of Wednesday, the first day of fire season, the map showed 24 active fires from Pensacola to West Palm Beach.

In March, a 500-acre wildfire in Calhoun County destroyed 16 homes. Days later, a wildfire in Hernando Beach spread to 150 acres but stopped short of crossing a canal, sparing restaurants and businesses near Weeki Wachee Preserve.

The forestry service has increased staffing to about 1,200 employees and upgraded equipment, including 46 drones, eight helicopters and 73 bulldozers, Simpson said.

Bulldozers are used to create firebreaks — cleared areas that help stop the spread of wildfires.

“We had one state-owned helicopter, and we had a handful of helicopters that were old Hueys from the Vietnam era that had been surplus from the federal government,” Simpson said. “Needless to say, they were not reliable at all.”

The state has contained the rising number of fires so far, and water management districts have implemented restrictions to reduce fire risks.

South Florida has fared better than North Florida this spring. Water shortage warnings for Miami-Dade and Monroe counties were lifted at the end of March after the region received up to 6 inches of rain, raising the Biscayne aquifer to safer levels.

The aquifer supplies most of the drinking water for both counties.

The Northwest Florida Water Management District has kept restrictions voluntary, but the Suwannee River Water Management District has tightened water limits across all or parts of the 15 counties it oversees, including 13 river basins.

Landscape irrigation is limited to one day per week, and homeowners associations are prohibited from requiring additional watering, said district spokesperson Troy Roberts. Restrictions also apply to pressure washing and cleaning of streets and sidewalks.

Many rivers are at less than 25 percent of their average levels. The district has tracked river levels for more than a century, with some records dating to 1906.

This spring, portions of the Santa Fe River along Interstate 75 have run dry, and the Alapaha River has been reduced enough to be used for off-road vehicles.

“We continue to monitor our groundwater levels, and if we see that further water shortage measures are necessary, we will present that information to the governing board and they will make that determination,” Roberts said.