Fire can't burn very far into the northeastern corner at all, because that area burned just the year before. There is a lot of exposed sandy soil exposed by the earlier fire, and very little accumulation of dead stuff to support a new fire. As you can guess, it isn't quite that simple. Areas that burn frequently develop plant and animal communities which are a little different from those that burn infrequently, and students of ecology enjoy trying to analyse and interpret the differences. This helps to explain why you find such diversity in what otherwise looks like a very monotonous community when it is seen from the road.
Fire is a natural part of the Florida environment.
Some experts speculate that were it not for fire, the pine flatwoods would gradually be replaced by a forest of oak and other broad-leafed trees. This kind of information can be very important to those who want artificially to control or maintain habitat, for example to maintain the special habitat requirements for scrub jays, or for red cockaded woodpeckers. Students who take classes in entomology visit all parts of the campus, including the preserve areas not generally seen by the public. They especially like to visit The Arboretum because the broad diversity of different kinds of plants is accompanied by a wide variety of insects which either eat the plants or eat the insects which eat the plants. This makes The Arboretum a good place to visit to collect insects.