How a hurricane fueled wildfires in the Florida Panhandle
We asked University of Florida fire ecologist David Godwin, who co-leads the Southern Fire Exchange, to explain the role the hurricane played in wildfires that forced over 1,000 people to evacuate their homes.
What’s fueling Florida wildfires so early in the year?
March is early for large fires in this part of Florida. We’re not in extreme drought, but the weather has been warm and dry, and this area has a lot of fuel on the ground that can burn.
When Hurricane Michael rolled through, it had a catastrophic impact on timber in the region. The hurricane dropped most of the standing trees into a jumbled mess that piled up on the ground.
Typically, a forest’s fuel load – the total mass of burnable stuff on a site – is less than 10 tons per acre. After Hurricane Michael, surveys found over 100 tons per acre in parts of the Panhandle. That’s off the charts. Everyone involved saw this storm had tremendous potential to affect wildfire activity for years to come.
