NE Florida wildfire season is coming as Forestry Service does prescribed burns to head it off

The heat’s been on in some state forests in Northeast Florida lately, despite the frigid temperatures of recent weeks. State forestry crews have been systematically burning dead underbrush in an effort to prevent wildfires over the next few months. The hazard reduction burns were done in recent days after forestry firefighters fought 49 wildfires in Florida in the first week of 2018, a number that jumped to 97 as of Wednesday. Due to two periods of hard freezes that killed grass and trees, the wildfire danger index for Duval and Nassau counties is “high,” with St. Johns, Clay and Putnam in the “moderate” range, Florida Forest Service wildfire mitigation specialist Annaleasa Winter said.