Wildfires in Florida Panhandle Prompt Evacuations

Three fires forced the evacuation of more than 1,100 homes.

Three fast-moving wildfires in the Florida Panhandle have consumed more than 10,000 acres and forced the evacuation of more than 1,100 homes, the authorities said.

The Bertha Swamp Road fire began Friday in Gulf County, about 60 miles southwest of Tallahassee, and spread north into Bay and Calhoun Counties, the Florida Forest Service said. The fire had burned around 9,000 acres and was 10 percent contained as of Sunday afternoon, Gov. Ron DeSantis said at a news briefing on Sunday.

“That’s a big boy and it’s raging very quickly,” he said.

Mr. DeSantis said emergency responders had been injured, but it was not clear how many were hurt or the nature of their injuries.

A second fire, the Adkins Avenue fire, also started on Friday, near Panama City, and had burned about 840 acres and was 35 percent contained in Bay County, the Forest Service said, adding that previous acreage estimates had been hampered by smoky conditions and intense fire activity.

A third fire, the Star Avenue fire, has burned 250 acres and was 45 percent contained, fire officials said late Sunday.

The Adkins Avenue fire was caused by someone burning debris in a backyard, Valerie Sale, a spokeswoman for Bay County, said on Saturday. It was not clear what started the Bertha Swamp Road or Star Avenue fires, though the Forest Service said windy conditions had driven both blazes.

In 2018, Hurricane Michael left behind thousands of acres of dead trees, which served as tinder for this weekend’s fires, Ms. Sale said.

The National Weather Service in Tallahassee said on Twitter on Sunday that the Bertha Swamp Road fire was burning near where the eye of the hurricane had passed.

On Saturday, Ms. Sale said at least two homes had been destroyed and as many as 12 had been damaged. She said that number was likely to climb.

The Bay County school district said on Facebook that three of its schools would be closed on Monday because teachers and students who evacuated may not be able to get to school.

On Sunday afternoon, after the Star Avenue fire broke out, the Forest Service said an evacuation order was issued for the Clifford Chester Sims State Veterans’ Nursing Home. Residents were being taken to either a temporary shelter or a nearby hospital.

On Sunday, the Forest Service said that there were nearly 170 active wildfires burning more than 15,000 acres across Florida, up from 7,100 acres from the day before. The Forest Service had warned on Friday that fire danger levels were elevated statewide, citing “critically low humidity.”

Wildfires are a well-known menace in the American West, though it appears that threat could be making its way east.

Recent research has suggested that heat and dryness associated with global warming has been causing fires to grow bigger and stronger, with wildfires becoming a year-round possibility.