The primary responsibility for wildland fire protection rests with the Florida Division of Forestry (DOF) Florida’s forests are valued as a natural resource, both to protect the natural environment and for the revenue produced by timber as a commercial product of the sate. This agency has resources distributed throughout the state, assigned to regional management units, to manage the forests and provide fire protection for thousands of square miles of public lands.
The local structural fire departments and DOF units generally have very close established relationships at the local and regional level. The local fire departments usually provide an initial attack on wildland fires in the areas they can reach, while the DOF resources assume the responsibility for fires that require additional resources or prolonged efforts to control. Once the DOF units arrive and assume responsibility for a fire, the local forces usually take a supporting role for as long as they are needed.
The DOF resources include hand crews, wildland engines, tractors with plow attachments and bulldozers, as well as a few helicopters. The tractor/plows are routinely used to isolate fires that are burrowing through the underbrush. The overhaul operations at individual fires may take several days, however, once the fire is contained, the crews can usually limit their operations to daytime hours.
The Florida Division of Forestry is involved in the Nationwide Wildland FireCoordination (NWFC) Group and works closely with other state and federal agencies that provide fire protection for public lands. This system is coordinated through the National Interagency Fire Center (NIFC) in Boise, Idaho. A separate cooperative agreement, known as the Southeastern Compact, exists among several bordering states to provide mutual assistance for a variety of emergency situations, including wildland fires.
The US Forest Service is responsible for wildland fire protection in the areas of Florida that are under its jurisdiction, including the Ocala, Apalachicola and Osceola National Forests. The Fish and Wildlife Service is responsible for protecting significant coastal areas within the state. These and other federal agencies work closely with the Florida Division of Forestry.
In addition to creating new interface areas, the increasing urbanization of Florida has made wildland fire risk mitigation more challenging. Prescriptive burning, which is an important program to thin the underbrush and interrupt fuel continuity, has been severely curtailed because of smoke complaints from developed areas.
Until 1998, the general population was not greatly concerned with the risk of wildland fires. While fires do occur in the wooded areas, the humidity usually keep them from becoming large enough to pose a significant threat to built-up areas. Regulations requiring brush clearance around structures have not been adopted or enforced in many areas, because interface fires have not been identified as a major risk factor by local jurisdications.
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