Florida On Fire: 116 Wildfires, But Rain May Soon Provide Relief

TALLAHASSEE, FL — For the first time in a long while, the forecast for the Tampa Bay area shows pretty decent rain chances. Those anticipated showers and storms over the next few days may provide much-needed relief for crews battling wildfires across the state.

According to the Florida Forest Service, there were 116 active wildfires burning in the Sunshine State as of 7:30 a.m. May 19. That number includes 29 fires on land under the state’s jurisdiction that were each 100 acres or more in size. Those 29 fires alone spanned some 36,457 acres. Three fires were also burning on 174,722 acres of federal land within Florida.

Get the Patch newsletter and alerts in your inbox.

Forecasters at the National Weather Service in Ruskin say relief could be on the way thanks to daily storms expected through Thursday of next week. How much help those storms will provide remains to be seen though. Forecasters, however, say that locally heavy rainfall is possible as storms crop up.

While the forecast is improving, counties across the state are still keeping bans on outdoor burns in place. According to the state, every county in the Tampa Bay area had an active ban in place as of May 16, the last time the state updated its map.

Last weekend, 16 firefighters from South Carolina arrived to help state and local crews across Florida tackle active wildfires. The number of active fires has decreased from last week's 142.

To see the locations where fires were burning as of Friday morning, check out the map below:

The following graphic shows which counties had active bans on outdoor burning as of May 16:

For more information on wildfires, county burn bans and fire dangers, visit the state’s website.

Photo courtesy of Hernando County