Florida wildfire expands as it burns thousands of acres in Big Cypress

The Palm Beach Post, February 26, 2026

Tens of thousands of acres in Florida are on fire, mostly concentrated in the swampy southwest corner of the state where stately bald cypress trees, grassy spikerush and pink-flowered marsh fleabane knit a rich ecosystem adjacent to the Everglades.

The 30,000-acre National fire, which sparked to life late on Sunday, Feb. 22 in the Big Cypress National Preserve, has periodically shut down major roads, and, as of early Thursday, was 0% contained with predictions of further expansion at least into Saturday.

In some circumstances fire can be beneficial for environmental rebirth.

But not this year when 100% of Florida is in a drought as severe as anything on record since 2001, and wildlife is already struggling.

“The fire will let up but the drought we see continuing for months and that creates habitat concerns and the ability for these burned places to recover in the near term,” said Steve Davis, chief science officer for The Everglades Foundation. “The problem we experience when we have such a severe drought is a lot of animals are already stressed because the lack of freshwater supplies.”

Read the full Palm Beach Post story here: https://www.palmbeachpost.com/story/weather/2026/02/26/florida-fire-grows-unchecked-as-drought-worsens-and-ecosystems-suffer/88876667007/

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