Wildfires Create Smoky Smell In Sarasota

If you awoke to smell of smoke this morning, you’re not alone. From Land O' Lakes to Sarasota and many points in between, there’s a heavy smell of smoke in the area.

The cause of the smell isn’t a wildfire burning in the Tampa Bay area. Instead, the source is likely a 25,000-acre fire burning near the Florida/Georgia line in the Osceola National Forest, said Kristin Bennett, a duty officer with the Florida Forest Service.

“We believe it’s the effect of all the fires north of us (and winds) pushing everything our way,” Bennett said.

There are currently 97 wildfires burning in the state — none of them in the Tampa Bay area.

While the Bay area is in the clear right now, Bennett warns conditions are ripe for that tally of wildfires to go up.

“The fire risk is extreme right now,” she said.

The National Weather Service has issued a Red Flag Warning for fires in many Bay area counties, including Pasco and Pinellas, according to its website. The warning remains in effect until 8 p.m. tonight, April 12.

Sarasota County has issued an air advisory for folks with respiratory problems after elevated levels of smoke were detected at Lido Air Monitoring Station.

People with respiratory ailments may experience health effects during this air advisory and should limit their outdoor activities, according to the county. The general public is not likely to be affected. Any person with health-related questions should contact their personal health care provider.

This air advisory is in effect until dusk today.

People with asthma and other respiratory or eye problems are advised to stay indoors today.

The state also has issued tips for helping to protect homes during wildfire season. Florida is at risk of wildfires all year, though the problems intensify in the hotter months.

The pervasive smoke in Florida is from a wildfire in the Osceola National Forest, according to theFlorida Forest Service.

Emergency dispatchers across the state are being flooded with calls about the smell, according to TBO.com.

To find out what conditions are like in neighborhoods throughout the Bay area, we've put this story on all 19 of our local Patch sites. On a scale of 1-10, how strong is the smell of smoke where you are? 1 would mean "I can barely smell anything," and 10 would be "Is that MY house on fire?"