Huge wildfires in the Florida Panhandle have forced veterans at a 120-bed nursing home to evacuate. Firefighters were battling three separate blazes Sunday. Residents of more than 1,000 homes in Bay County have been forced to flee over the weekend from the 9,000-acre Bertha Swamp Road fire and the 841-acre Adkins Avenue fire. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis described the larger Bertha Swamp Road fire as “a big boy,” at a news conference. Dry weather conditions are expected to continue on Monday. The Florida Forest Service says 2018's Hurricane Michael left behind 72 million tons of destroyed trees that have provided fuel for the wildfires.
Firefighters are battling at least four wildfires in the Florida Panhandle in the northwest of the US state. The area is still recovering from a massive hurricane three years ago.
Florida state officials said Sunday that two wildfires in the Florida panhandle have burned nearly 10,000 acres collectively. The Florida Forest Service said The Bertha Swamp Fire, which began in Gulf County, has spread to 8,000 acres and pushed into Bay and Calhoun counties, and was 10% contained as of Sunday morning, while the Adkins Avenue Fire held at 1,400 acres and was 35% contained. Overall, 150 wildfires are currently burning more than 12,100 acres throughout the state. Residents in the Bear Creek area were put under mandatory evacuation orders in response to the Bertha Swamp Fire and all existing evacuation orders from the Adkins Avenue Fire remained in place. Overall about 600 homes have been evacuated. The Florida Forest Service said there was no timeline for when residents will be allowed to return home. A total of 17 tractor-plow units are combatting the Bertha Swamp Road Fire, while 25-tractor-plow units have been sent to build fire lines around the Adkins Avenue fire and