PANAMA CITY ― Three wildfires are burning around Bay County and two just outside the county line as dry conditions persist.
On April 21 about 3p.m., two new fires erupted just outside the county line. On April 22, the Bunker Road Fire stood at 20 acres and was 60% contained. The Steel Field Road fire was 50 acres and 75% contained.
Meanwhile the Clayton Road fire, currently the largest, was 162 acres and 90% contained.
The Hauser Road fire had burned 30 acres and was 75% contained, and the 17-acre Nadine Road fire was 80% contained.
The Florida Forest Service has been working in conjunction with Bay County Fire Rescue to tackle the blazes, and there are currently no evacuation orders in place.
As of April 22, it had been more than two weeks without significant rainfall in the area, and no rain was expected at least through the next seven days, according to the National Weather Service.
While locally gusty winds and high temperatures are predicted to worsen fire conditions, forecasters say a moist southerly wind will keep humidity above dangerous thresholds. Humidity levels on Tuesday were higher than on Monday, which could help limit fire spread.
Bay County gained 13 points on the Keetch-Byram Drought Index on April 22 and 16 points the day before, although at 253, the county’s average KBDI was still well below moderate drought stage. For comparison, 27 counties in Florida, mostly in the southern and central peninsula, averaged above 500 on the KBDI, and six of those averaged above 600.
This article originally appeared on The News Herald: Several fires burning in Bay County. Rain still isn’t in the forecast