"The fires raging in north Florida are so big, so hot, so fast that they have had a devastating ecological impact," one that could take decades to reverse, according to forestry experts. Hot fires in the range of 5,000 to 6,000 degrees Fahrenheitburn everything, even soil, and they leave the affected land inhospitable for vegetation and animal life. The US Forest Service estimates that 20% of the fires in north Florida "have this intensive, hot burning."