Containing The Picayune Wildfire

JOINING US. FIREFIGHTING CREWS ARE CONTINUING TO BATTLE THE SECOND MAJOR WILDFIRE IN COLLIER COUNTY IN THE PAST FEW WEEKS. FLORIDA FOREST SERVICE IS SHARED IMAGES OF AERIAL EFFORTS BEING MADE TO SUPPRESS THE FIRE. THE WILDFIRE IS AT LEAST 70% CONTAINED AFTER CHARRING MORE THAN 1700 ACRES OF THAT PICAYUNE STRAND STATE FOREST WITH THE WARM AND DRY CONDITIONS CONTINUING COULD THIS JUST BE THE BEGINNING OF A VERY BUSY BRUSH FIRE SEASON? WGCU SENIOR ENVIRONMENTAL REPORTER TOM BAYLISS JOINS US NOW WITH THE VERY LATEST ON THE WILDFIRES AND WHAT EFFORTS ARE BEING MADE TO CONTAIN THEM. >> YEAH, JENNIFER, I JUST GOT OFF THE PHONE WITH FORESTRY. NOT EVEN 5 MINUTES AGO. THEY'RE 70% CONTAINED RIGHT NOW. THEY'RE FEELING VERY GOOD ABOUT THE FIRE. IT WAS A TUESDAY THIS WEEK THAT THEY REALLY FELT LIKE I GOT A HANDLE ON IT IN THE MORNING ON TUESDAY, THEY WERE 15% CONTAINED BY THE END OF THE DAY. THEY WERE 60% CONTAINED. AND THAT'S BECAUSE ON THAT DAY KHAN OF RESOURCES FROM THE STATE AND FEDERAL GOVERNMENT. BLACK HAWK HELICOPTERS DROPPING WATER, ALL SORTS OF NEAR CAME INTO TOWN AND THEY ALL OVER 200 FIREFIGHTERS GOT TO WORK ON THIS BLAZE TO KEEP IT FROM GETTING ITS BIGGEST AS THE THE NATIONAL FIRE THAT WAS IN THE EVERGLADES JUST A FEW WEEKS AGO. AND THEY'VE THEY'VE KEPT TO CONTAIN TO ROUGHLY 1700 ACRES, WHICH IS QUITE THE FEAT. >> INCREDIBLE WORK. AND YOU SPOKE WITH ONE OF THE FIREFIGHTERS. YES. >> JUST THE LAVENDER, WHO IS ONE OF THEIR SPOKESPEOPLE WHO'S BEEN ON THE FIRE FOR THE ENTIRE WEEK. HE TOLD ME THAT IT'S IT'S TOUGHER AND IT'S HOTTER AND SMOKE HERE THAN ALMOST ANY ASSIGNMENT THAT HE'S HAD BEFORE. THE WILDFIRE, WHICH HAS GROWN TO JUST OVER 1700 ACRES AND A FEW DAYS HAVE ALSO INCREASINGLY BEEN CONTAINED. JESSE LAVENDER, A FIREFIGHTER WITH THE FLORIDA FOREST SERVICE HAS BEEN WORKING THE FIRE THE WHOLE TIME. >> WE'RE ACTIVELY FIGHTING THE FIRE WITH EVERY RESOURCE WE POSSIBLY CAN GET AT THE MOMENT. SO FOR AIR SUPPORT, WE HAVE OUR 2. HELICOPTERS DOING BUCKET DROPS. WE HAVE THE COLLIER COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFICE HELICOPTER DOING BUCKET DROPS AND WE HAVE MULTIPLE CREWS FIGHTING BOTH SIDES OF THE FIRE. WE SPEAK. >> THE FIREFIGHTERS THAT HAVE BEEN FEARING THAT THIS SPRING WILDFIRE SEASON IN SOUTHWEST FLORIDA WAS GOING TO BE BAD SINCE THE DROUGHT SAID IN LAST FEBRUARY, WHICH WE'VE BEEN COVERING HERE AT WTC. YOU EVER SENSE. THEN LAST SUMMER, THERE WERE NO HURRICANES. THERE ARE ALSO FEW AFTERNOON THUNDERSTORMS SOUTHWEST FLORIDA'S NORMALLY WET SUMMER SEASON LEFT PLACES LIKE FORT MYERS WITH RAINFALL, DEFICITS OF A FOOT OR MORE. THE FIRST BIG WILDFIRE STARTED AMIR 7 WEEKS INTO THE YEAR. IT WAS RIGHT ALONG ALLIGATOR ALLEY AND THE BIG CYPRESS. NOW NATIONAL PRESERVE SMOKE FROM THAT WILDFIRE SHUT DOWN THE ROAD. ALSO KNOWN AS INTERSTATE 75 SEVERAL TIMES. THE NEWMAN FIRE HAS ALSO THREATENED TO SHUT DOWN ALLIGATOR ALLEY AND HAS CAUSED EVACUATIONS IN AND AROUND THE GOLDEN GATE AREA. BUT NOBODY'S BEEN HURT. NO HOMES HAVE BEEN LOST. AND LAVENDER FROM THE STATE FOREST SERVICE SAYS CONTAINING THE NEWMAN ROAD FIRE HAS NOT BEEN EASY. >> YEAH, WE'VE GOT A LITTLE LITTLE WAYS TO GO ON THIS ONE. AND, YOU KNOW, PEOPLE NEED TO BE PATIENT. WE'RE DOING OUR JOB AND AND WE'RE MAKING PROGRESS >> IN RECENT YEARS, NEARLY EVERY CATEGORY WHETHER THAT CAN OCCUR IN FLORIDA SET A RECORD ONE DIDN'T DROUGHT. LAST YEAR. WHAT WOULD BECOME THE WORST FLORIDA DROUGHT IN NEARLY 25 YEARS STARTED. QUIETLY AFTER THERE WAS NO APPRECIABLE RAIN FOR SEVERAL MONTHS. LOCAL TOWNS AND CITIES STARTED ISSUING BURN BANS TO AVOID CAMPFIRE AND TRASH BURNS FROM STARTING A WILDFIRE IN THE PARCHED WOODS. THE FIRST BIG WILDFIRE STARTED NEAR 7 WEEKS INTO THE YEAR ALONG ALLIGATOR ALLEY IN THE BIG CYPRESS NATIONAL PRESERVE. IS IT A SIGN OF FEAR OF THINGS TO COME? MAYBE. WE'RE NOT EVEN CLOSE TO THE HEIGHT OF THE WILDFIRE SEASON IN FLORIDA, WHICH IS MAY JUNE JULY. THE TIME YOU WERE HERE LESS THAN 2 MONTHS AGO, WARNING. >> ABOUT THIS VERY DANGEROUS WILDFIRE SEASON DESCRIBING. >> PINE TREES AS DRY AS MATCHSTICKS. AND YOU ARE RIGHT. >> YEAH. AND THAT WAS THE DROUGHT. THE DROUGHT THAT STARTED IN FEBRUARY OF 2025. HAS BEEN UNDERNEATH EVERYTHING. AND YOU KNOW, YOU CAN'T SEE DROUGHT. YOU CAN'T FIELD ROUTE. IT'S NOT LIKE YOU GO OUTSIDE. YOU SAY, OH, IT'S DROWNING TODAY. YOU KNOW, IT'S ALWAYS THERE IN THE IT IS. AND INSIDIOUS TYPE OF WEATHER PATTERN. AND SOMETIMES THEY TAKE YEARS TO GO AWAY. WHAT'S THE STATUS OF THE DROUGHT TODAY? RIGHT NOW, SOME OF THE RAINS THAT WE'VE HAD, ESPECIALLY IN THE NORTHERN COUNTIES OF SOUTHWEST FLORIDA HAVE DROPPED BACK A THING CALLED THE KEEP DROUGHT INDEX, WHICH IS THE WAY THAT FIREFIGHTERS MEASURE. HOW MUCH OIL, MUCH WATER THERE IS IN THE SOIL. AND THAT HAS COME DOWN A LITTLE BIT. WHEREAS 800 IS AS HIGH AS IT CAN BE DESERT LIKE CONDITIONS AND 0 IS FULLY SATURATED. WE WERE IN THE 700 FOR THE LONGEST TIME AND NOW MANY OF THE COUNTY'S COLLIER AND LEE AND CHARLOTTE ARE DROPPING INTO THE 500. BUT AS WE CAN SEE, THAT'S STILL HIGH ENOUGH FOR SOME MAJOR FIRES TO BREAK OUT. SO THERE'S A WAYS TO GO. WHAT WILL IT TAKE FOR THE DROUGHT TO GO AWAY? HOW MUCH RAIN DO WE NEED? >> UNFORTUNATELY, WE'RE GOING TO NEED. HURRICANE OR 2. >> THE KIND OF AFTERNOON SHOWERS THAT COME AND GO. AND IN A TYPICAL FLORIDA SUMMER, IF THEY HAPPEN ON A REGULAR BASIS, THEN YES, BY AUGUST OR SEPTEMBER OR THE JOB WILL BE KICKED BACK ENOUGH. BUT WITHOUT THOSE WE NEED THE HURRICANE AND WE HOPE IT'S ONE OF THOSE SIDE SWIPES THAT JUST GIVES US ALL THE RAIN BUT DOESN'T DO A LOT OF DAMAGE. BUT WE ALL KNOW HOW DANGEROUS HOPING FOR THAT IS BECAUSE WE REMEMBER IN WHICH WAS SUPPOSED TO SIDESWIPE. BUT INSTEAD CAME RIGHT IN AND A LOT OF US ARE STILL RECOVERING THAT RECOVERING FROM THAT STORM, INCLUDING MYSELF. >> THANK YOU FOR ALL THIS WONDERFUL INFORMATION. THE LATEST UPDATE ON THE WILDFIRE. >> WE'LL KEEP ON TOP OF IT. THANK YOU, JENNIFER.