Southwest Florida faces historic wildfire risk even as rainy season begins

FORT MYERS, Fla. (WINK)— Southwest Florida's historic drought means wildfire season may not end when rainy season begins, and lightning from summer storms could keep the region at risk well beyond June 1.

Fire officials warn that despite incoming rain; the fire danger will persist through the summer months. The prolonged dry conditions have left vegetation so dry that it can ignite, even as thunderstorms arrive.

"We're getting into those summer months, a key portion of those thunderstorms is lightning, that's when we are going to see an uptick in these wildfires," a Florida Forest Service official said.

Many residents find the warning difficult to believe. Michael Kincaid, who was walking his dog when WINK News spoke with him, said the August fire outlook caught him off guard.

"It's kind of hard to believe," Kincaid said.

But the dry shrubs, the missing trees, and the lack of rain brought the threat into focus for him.

"There are electrical storms all the time, every night, throughout the summer, every day, you know. So that's a major concern," Kincaid said.

The new fire season outlook indicates that wildfire and hurricane seasons will overlap this year. Fire officials say they're prepared to manage both threats simultaneously.

"It gets a little complicated when you have a hurricane and a wildfire at the same time. I don't know that that's occurred before, but we're prepared," the Florida Forest Service official said.

Kincaid acknowledged that the dual threats create a compounded risk.

"They're kind of just two separate threats that I look at, you know, separately, but once you compound them, then, yeah, that seems like a major, major issue," Kincaid said.

Fire officials say this could be a historic year for wildfire risk in Southwest Florida, something not seen in the last 20 or 25 years. The combination of extreme drought conditions and the arrival of lightning-heavy summer storms create an unusual and dangerous situation for the region.