PASCO COUNTY, Fla. — The Tampa Bay region has not seen much rain recently, and with high temperatures, plus low humidity, these are the conditions that make forest fires much more likely according to the Florida Forest Service.
What You Need To Know
- Senior Ranger Jared Doorier said the lack of rain, high temperatures, and low humidity make fires more likely to spread
- Doorier recommends avoiding any kind of outdoor burns and using fireworks with current conditions
- With rain not in our immediate forecast, Dorrier believes the risk will increase in the coming days
Senior Ranger Jared Doorier, a ranger for nearly 20 years, said Saturday afternoon, there weren’t any fires that he needed to head to, but he said there have been several this week.
“This week we’ve already had a 25-acre wildfire in Port Richey and that was a 25-acre brushfire that was started by probably a campfire out in the woods,” he said.
When Doorier heads to a fire, he said he thinks about its size, how it moves, and the resources needed to contain it.
Instead of in a typical fire truck, Doorier travels with a dozer to reach places others wouldn’t be able to get to when fighting a fire.
“When everybody thinks about stopping fires, they always think about somebody showing up on a red truck, lots of water and that’s the best way to do it as far as what a lot of people see,” he said. “But sometimes there’s no way you can get enough water out into the woods and that’s when you have to get a piece of equipment like this to be able to go out there.”
Even though it’s a holiday weekend, he said people should avoid any kind of outdoor burns and using fireworks as these conditions can lead to fires getting out of control.
“We’re going to hit the peak of wildfire season here pretty soon,” he said. “As dry as we are and everything else, we’re going to see probably a good bit of fire this weekend with the high winds we’re going to have.”
