Nurseryman Dick White hung the sign on his wire fence, which borders I-4 near Polk City. Losing 10 days because traffic couldn't reach him hurt. Last Friday evening, White watched as distant flames made the clouds glow an angry orange. Florida's ecosystem is made to burn, White said. Some trees don't release their seeds unless there's fire.
Scorched land makes some winter grasses green up.
Without water, the land yields even more easily to flame. This fire here could be a sideshow to something major. We're sitting on a powderkeg. Orlando's population has increased an estimated 28 percent since 1990. The Green Swamp is the highest point of the Floridan aquifer, where freshwater is naturally filtered and collected underground.