Wildfires scorch parts of Florida

Wildfires scorch parts of Florida | iNFOnews.ca
In this Saturday, April 8, 2017 photo, aircraft from the U.S. Forestry Service and the Florida Forestry Service work to contain a massive wildfire in Hernando Beach, Fla. Gov. Rick Scott on Tuesday, April 11 declared a State of Emergency for Florida in response to the wildfires actively burning across the state. (Luis Santana /Tampa Bay Times via AP)

TAMPA, Fla. – The Florida Forest Service says more than 100 active wildfires are burning across the state right now.

The Tampa Bay Times (http://bit.ly/2o18HLf) reports 25 of them are scorching more than 100 acres each.

Since February, wildfires have swept across 68,000 acres of the state. That amount is higher than the average acreage burned over the past five years.

The largest blaze right now is the one known as the Cowbell Fire in the Big Cypress National Preserve, which has spread to more than 8,000 acres about a mile north of Interstate 75.

A Hernando County brush fire apparently sparked by lightning on Saturday had widened to 1,100 acres by Monday.

The dry conditions mark sharp contrast to 2016, when the state was drenched by two hurricanes.

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Information from: Tampa Bay Times (St. Petersburg, Fla.), http://www.tampabay.com.

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Abbey Westbury

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