TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Today, Florida Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried announced the deployment of a dozen Florida Forest Service wildland firefighters to assist with the wildfire activity in Texas. The deployment comes in response to a request for single resources in various locations across the state.
“In times like this, it is our duty to support our fellow Americans and agency partners,” said Commissioner Fried. “I am grateful for the men and women of the Florida Forest Service and their commitment to serve and protect communities alongside the Texas A&M Forest Service. Our thoughts and prayers are with all the first responders working to fight these devastating wildfires and the families impacted by them.”
“With recent rainfall across the northern half of the state, we are in a good position to give Texas a hand right now,” said Erin Albury, State Forester and Director of the Florida Forest Service. “Florida knows what wildfire can do to a community, and we are dedicated to helping any way we can.”
To view the Texas A&M Forest Service statewide active fire response map, navigate to https://public.tfswildfires.com. For frequent incident updates, visit https://twitter.com/AllHazardsTFS.
The Florida Forest Service, a division of the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, manages more than 1 million acres of state forests and provides forest management assistance on more than 17 million acres of private and community forests. The Florida Forest Service is also responsible for protecting homes, forestland and natural resources from the devastating effects of wildfire on more than 26 million acres.
