Florida wildfires

Flordia holds a special place in my heart so my thoughts always turn to Florida at this time of year because winter often means wildfires. Action newsJax reports here about the increased fire danger so far this year. According to the Florida Forest Fire Service Wildfire Information Page from Jan 1, 2012 through Jan 29, 2012 there have been 402 state wildfires (5510 acres burned) and 16 federal wildfires (3,757 acres burned).

Many of you have probably heard about the 10 deaths from automobile crashes attributed to fog and smoke, Bill Gabbert of Wildfire Today reported on this here, and here is an article from the Palm Beach Daily News on the automobile crashes highlighting the wildfire threat in Florida.

I embedded a map from the folk at ERSI. This should be a customized link to the map embedded above which I obtained about 6:45 PM today (Feb. 1, 2012). As I write this, there are three larger fires in Florida, and another in Oklahoma. To be honest, I am not quite sure if the image I embedded is static or changes over time. So, perhaps you are seeing something different from what I am writing about. In any event, it is a nice resource. Clicking on the fire icon should give you information about the fire.
The Florida Forest Fire Service has their own fire mapping system that may be accessed here.

I'll be checking in on wildfire activity in Florida from time to time, so stay tuned.