2026 Florida wildfires

2026 Florida wildfires
Statistics
Burned area>100,000 acres
← 2025

The 2026 Florida wildfires are a series of wildfires burning in the U.S. state of Florida.

Background

Florida's wildfire season is shaped by its subtropical climate, seasonal rainfall shifts, human activity, and occasionally catastrophic weather events. The state traditionally experiences a prolonged dry season from October through May, during which wildfire risks are elevated. Central Florida and northern Florida typically sees its wildfire trends begin as early as January, with activity continuing into May or even early June—right before the onset of the rainy season and hurricane impacts.[1][2]

Lightning is a potent natural ignition source—but its role is often overshadowed by human-caused fires, particularly those that originate from escaped yard debris burning and equipment sparks. In 2023, lightning accounted for more than 35% of wildfires, but the remainder were traced to human activities.[3]

Florida's ecosystems—such as pine flatwoods and scrub—evolved with recurrent fire cycles, typically burning every 3 to 7 years to maintain ecological health. These fire-adapted landscapes depend on periodic burns to sustain species like the gopher tortoise and regenerating longleaf pine stands.[4]

Major wildfire years have occurred in the past. One of the most destructive was the 1998 Florida wildfires, a series of thousands of fires sparked mostly by lightning and exacerbated by heavy vegetation growth followed by sudden drought conditions. These blazes scorched roughly 500,000 acres—including over 150 structures—before rains eventually helped contain them.[5] In recent years, wildfire seasons have remained active and in some cases expanded.[6]

Hurricanes leave behind another major and often overlooked risk factor: downed trees and debris. These serve as abundant dry fuel. Experts warn that when combined with ongoing drought and drought-induced dryness, these remnants contribute significantly to early and intense fire outbreaks each spring.[7][8]

A lack of landfalling tropical cyclones in the 2025 Atlantic hurricane season contributed to one of the worst droughts in decades across the region, with 99% of the state being in drought and 85% being in severe drought or worse by mid-February 2026.[9][10] By late March, over 70% of Florida was in extreme drought or worse.[11]

List of wildfires

The following is a list of fires that have burned more than 1,000 acres (400 ha), or caused significant structural damage or casualties.

Name County Acres Start date Containment date[a] Notes/References
Silver Lake Wakulla 4,816 January 17 January 22 Human-caused in Apalachicola National Forest.[13][14]
ST-1 Alpha Highlands 3,047 February 3 February 5 [15]
Curry Island 26 Glades 1,800 February 7 February 7 [16]
Buggy Broward 4,173 February 7 February 9 [17]
West Boundary Road Hendry 2,624 February 10 February 17 [18]
640 Polk 1,216 February 10 February 10 [19]
First Point Okeechobee, Glades 8,612 February 12 February 13 This fire caused dense smoke throughout the Miami Metropolitan Area.
[20]
Levy Osceola 1,300 February 15 February 15 [21]
National Collier 35,027 February 22 March 17 See article on this wildfire -
Human-caused in Big Cypress National Preserve. Caused dense smoke across the Florida Heartland Region, leading to the temporary closure of Alligator Alley. The fire led to the evacuation of the community of Jerome from burnout operations.

[22]

Radar Polk 2,000 February 26 February 27 [23]
Savannah Liberty 1,930 March 3 March 27 [24]
Old Bowling Green Polk 3,297 March 5 March 12 [25]
Cliff Lake Liberty 6,499 March 17 May 6 [26]
Mill Pond Liberty 1,760 March 19 May 6 [27]
Sargent Baker, Columbia, Clinch (GA) 2,523 April 2 June 3 Burned west of Rockvil along State Road 2. large pyrocumulus cloud was produced.[28]
Newman Drive Collier 1,733 April 13 April 22 Prompted evacuations for portions of Naples.[29]
Crews Road Clay 2,000 April 19 April 20 (Merged with Railroad Complex Fire) Prompting several evacuations near Leno. Shut down Amtrak service for the nearby railroad.[30]
Railroad Complex Putnam,
Clay		 4,796 April 19 May 28 Led to evacuations for areas to the north of Bostwick. Led to the closure of West Tocoi Road.[31] Merged with the Crews Road Fire on April 20.[32]
Mile Marker 45 Broward 9,600 April 21 April 24 [33]
Cow Creek Levy 2,364 April 21 May 29 Caused widespread evacuations in Central Levy County near the Goethe State Forest.[34]
Highway 41 Miami-Dade 9,149 April 27 May 3 Closed parts of Everglades National Park.[35]
South Canal Lafayette 2,265 May 4
97%
 [36]
Max Road Miramar Broward, Miami-Dade 11,446 May 10 May 13 Burned in Everglades National Park west of U.S. Route 27.[37][38]
Shell Lake 2,822 May 22 June 16 Lightning-caused. Burning 13 miles (21 km) west of Deland.[39]
Mile Marker 44 Broward 1,200 May 23 May 26 [40]
Wawa 2 Highlands 7,121 May 23 June 9 [41]
340 Wakulla 3,255 May 23 June 16 [42]
Rookery Volusia 4,700 June 14 July 6 Lightning-caused. Burned in Lake Woodruff National Wildlife Refuge.[43][44]
Quarry 2 Miami-Dade 19,018 June 15 July 9 Burned in Doral.[45][46]
Well Miami-Dade 2,814 June 16 July 17 Burning in Doral.[47][48]
Coptic Miami-Dade 5,685 June 17 June 21 Burned 15 miles (24 km) northwest of Homestead.[49]
Platt Trap Glades 2,513 June 21 June 26 Burned west of Lake Okeechobee.[50]
Area 12 Palm Beach 12,000 June 23 July 1 [51]
Atlantic Broward 5,780 June 28 July 2 Lightning-caused. Burned in Tamarac.[52][53]
Mile Marker 40 – Broward Broward 6,750 July 16
95%
 Cause under investigation. Burning west of U.S. 27.[54][55]
Berger Palm Beach 19,700 July 17 July 25 Unknown cause. Burned in Loxahatchee.[56][57]
Holey Broward 5,000 July 28 July 31 Burned 6 miles (9.7 km) north of Interstate 75.[58]
Jones Island Volusia 1,107 August 10 August 11 [59]
Movie Dome Miami-Dade 6,207 August 19 August 24 [60]
Chipmunk Miami-Dade 17,000 August 22
60%
 Lightning-caused. Burning 15 miles (24 km) west of Homestead.[61]

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ Containment means that fire crews have established and secured control lines around the fire's perimeter. These lines are artificial barriers, like trenches or cleared vegetation, designed to stop the fire's spread, or natural barriers like rivers. Containment reflects progress in managing the fire but does not necessarily mean the fire is starved of fuel, under control, or put out.[12]

References

  1. ↑ "Central Florida's Wildfire Season: What to Watch for". Spectrum News 13. Retrieved August 14, 2025.
  2. ↑ "When is Florida Fire Season?". WTSP. Retrieved August 14, 2025.
  3. ↑ "What's Growing On: Wildfire season in Florida". WCJB. Retrieved August 14, 2025.
  4. ↑ "Fire Ecology – Local History". IFAS Florida Cooperative Extension. Retrieved August 14, 2025.
  5. ↑ "Wildland Fires Florida 1998" (PDF). United States Fire Administration. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 19, 2011. Retrieved March 26, 2020.
  6. ↑ "Current Wildfire Information". Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. Retrieved December 8, 2023.
  7. ↑ "Fires are burning throughout U.S. Here's where there's greater risk". Washington Post. Retrieved August 14, 2025.
  8. ↑ "Wildfires expected to burn up to 9 million acres in US this year. Will tropics help Florida?". USA Today. Retrieved August 14, 2025.
  9. ↑ "99% of Florida is in a drought, and one city's rainfall shows how dry it's been". AccuWeather. February 13, 2026. Retrieved February 15, 2026.
  10. ↑ "Florida fire danger spikes as 'Extreme Drought' reaches 25-year high, as state of emergency declared". Fox Weather. February 13, 2026. Retrieved February 15, 2026.
  11. ↑ Atienza, Julien (March 26, 2026). "How El Niño could help bust Florida's historic drought, despite limited short-term relief". Fox Weather. Retrieved March 26, 2026.
  12. ↑ "What containment and other wildfire related terms mean". Los Angeles: KCAL-TV. September 12, 2024. Retrieved July 25, 2025.
  13. ↑ "Silver Lake Fire Map". Watch Duty. Retrieved January 21, 2026.
  14. ↑ "Silver Lake - Wildfire and Smoke Map". data.floridatoday.com. Retrieved February 3, 2026.
  15. ↑ "ST-1 Alpha Fire Map". Watch Duty. Retrieved February 3, 2026.
  16. ↑ "Curry Island 26 (22) Fire Map". Watch Duty. Retrieved February 7, 2026.
  17. ↑ "Buggy - Broward (06) Fire Map". Watch Duty. Retrieved February 7, 2026.
  18. ↑ "W Boundary Rd (26) Fire Map". Watch Duty. Retrieved February 11, 2026.
  19. ↑ "640 (53) Fire Map". Watch Duty. Retrieved February 11, 2026.
  20. ↑ "First Point (22) Fire Map". Watch Duty. Retrieved February 14, 2026.
  21. ↑ "Levy (49) Fire Map". Watch Duty. Retrieved February 15, 2026.
  22. ↑ "National Fire Map". Watch Duty. Retrieved February 23, 2026.
  23. ↑ "Radar Fire Map". Watch Duty. Retrieved February 26, 2026.
  24. ↑ "Savannah Fire Map". Watch Duty. Retrieved March 3, 2026.
  25. ↑ "Old Bowling Green (53) Map". Watch Duty. Retrieved March 7, 2026.
  26. ↑ "Cliff Lake Fire Map". Watch Duty. Retrieved March 21, 2026.
  27. ↑ "Mill Pond Fire Map". Watch Duty. Retrieved March 21, 2026.
  28. ↑ "Sargent Fire Map". Watch Duty. Retrieved April 3, 2026.
  29. ↑ "Newman Drive Fire Map". Watch Duty. Retrieved April 13, 2026.
  30. ↑ "Crews Road Fire Map". Watch Duty. Retrieved April 20, 2026.
  31. ↑ "Railroad Complex Fire Map". Watch Duty. Retrieved April 20, 2026.
  32. ↑ "Railroad Fire Map". Watch Duty. Retrieved April 21, 2026.
  33. ↑ "MM-45 Fire Map". Watch Duty. Retrieved April 21, 2026.
  34. ↑ "Cow Creek Fire Map". Watch Duty. Retrieved April 21, 2026.
  35. ↑ "HWY 41 Fire Map". Watch Duty. Retrieved May 2, 2026.
  36. ↑ "Watch Duty - Wildfire Maps & Alerts". Watch Duty. Retrieved May 7, 2026.
  37. ↑ "Max Road Miramar Fire Map". Watch Duty. Retrieved May 15, 2026.
  38. ↑ Trujillo, Brianna; Christakis, Trish; Berg, Adam (May 12, 2026). "Max Road fire grows to 11,000+ acres as Broward officials warn of unhealthy air quality". WTVJ. Retrieved May 15, 2026.
  39. ↑ "Shell - Wildfire and Smoke Map". data.floridatoday.com. Retrieved June 15, 2026.
  40. ↑ "Mile Marker 44 Fire Map". Watch Duty. Retrieved May 25, 2026.
  41. ↑ "Wawa 2 Fire Map". Watch Duty. Retrieved May 25, 2026.
  42. ↑ "Mile Marker 44 Fire Map". Watch Duty. Retrieved May 25, 2026.
  43. ↑ "Rookery Fire Map". Watch Duty. Retrieved June 16, 2026.
  44. ↑ Zizo, Christie (June 16, 2026). "Nearly-4,000-acre fire burning on US forest land in Volusia County". WKMG-TV. Retrieved June 16, 2026.
  45. ↑ "Quarry 2 Fire Map". Watch Duty. Retrieved June 17, 2026.
  46. ↑ "South Florida wildfires still burning but crews make progress in containment - CBS Miami". www.cbsnews.com. June 19, 2026. Retrieved June 19, 2026.
  47. ↑ "Well Fire Map". Watch Duty. Retrieved June 18, 2026.
  48. ↑ "Second brush fire burns in western Miami Dade County". June 16, 2026.
  49. ↑ "Coptic Fire Map". Watch Duty. Retrieved June 18, 2026.
  50. ↑ "Platt Trap Fire Map". Watch Duty. Retrieved June 24, 2026.
  51. ↑ "Area 12 Fire Map". Watch Duty. Retrieved June 27, 2026.
  52. ↑ "Atlantic Fire Map". Watch Duty. Retrieved June 30, 2026.
  53. ↑ "Broward brush fire sparked by lightning; grows to more than 5,000 acres". WPLG. June 30, 2026. Retrieved June 30, 2026.
  54. ↑ "Mile Marker 40 - Broward Fire Map". Watch Duty. Retrieved July 17, 2026.
  55. ↑ Soler, Ana Maria; Maugeri, Steve (July 17, 2026). "New Everglades wildfire in Broward burns thousands of acres, causes smoky conditions for metro areas". CBS News. Retrieved July 17, 2026.
  56. ↑ "Berger Fire Map". Watch Duty. Retrieved July 18, 2026.
  57. ↑ Carl, Charlotte (July 18, 2026). "Berger Wildfire grows to 1,500 acres in western Palm Beach County". WPEC. Retrieved July 18, 2026.
  58. ↑ "Broward Fire Map". Watch Duty. Retrieved July 28, 2026.
  59. ↑ "Jones Island Fire Map". Watch Duty. Retrieved August 15, 2026.
  60. ↑ "Movie Dome Fire". Watch Duty. Retrieved August 22, 2026.
  61. ↑ "Chipmunk - Wildfire and Smoke Map". data.dailycommerical.com. Retrieved August 22, 2026.
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