There was a knock on Kevin Elliott's front door the last Saturday in March. It was his neighbor, there to tell him a fire was burning in the woods behind his house.
Six months earlier, Elliott's home in eastern Bay County survived Hurricane Michael's 150 mph winds. But the storm left 72 million tons of downed trees in its wake, the state said, and turned the woods behind Elliott's house into a tinderbox ready to erupt.
The fire behind Elliott's home was started by a neighbor burning yard trash, Florida Forest Service records show. Normally, a fire like that would have taken a few hours to contain, said Jim Karels, director of the Florida Forest Service. But with all of the fire fuels on the ground, it took days to control and ended up burning 669 acres.
With Florida entering its peak wildfire season, fire officials are especially concerned about more fires breaking out in the areas hit hardest by the hurricane.
“Michael just ravaged the forest of the Panhandle,” Karels said. “If we have a normal fire season, with those fuels, it could be catastrophic.”