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Highlands Today

Hot And Dry And Busy

Jasmina Meyer, Highlands Today

West Sebring and City of Sebring firefighters respond to a structure fire in February off of Hammock Road in Sebring. Some fire departments have been very busy this year because of the wild fire season.

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By MARC VALERO

Highlands Today

Published: March 11, 2009

SEBRING - The West Sebring Volunteer Fire Department has not just been busy, it's been very busy.

The severely dry conditions and the annual influx of winter residents have led to a record number of calls for the fire department in January, which February surpassed.

"Obviously the drought does increase the amount of brush fires," said West Sebring VFD Fire Chief Scott Mann on Tuesday. "This time of the year we also have more accidents and, since we run medicals, a lot of cardiac and strokes."

In January, firefighters from the department that services areas north of the city of Sebring had 79 calls.

February's totals were 84 - 18 fires, 40 rescue-EMS, four hazardous conditions, one service call, 18 good intent calls and three false alarms.

At dinner time, rest time and just about any time he's not working, Swen Swenson may be called to action as a member of the Lorida Volunteer Fire Department.

As a professional firefighter/EMT with Highlands County Fire Service, Swenson is also ready on the job to respond to fires and emergencies.

"As dry as it is out there, it doesn't take much to get a brush fire going," he said Monday at the Sun 'N Lakes South Fire Station. "The other day we had a crew working at the station, and we were eating lunch and got sent out because a squirrel got electrocuted and started a brush fire."

Swenson responded to two small brush fires Monday - one in Sun 'N Lakes South and the other in Venus.

Richard Gavagnie also works as a county firefighter and a volunteer firefighter. He's the fire chief of Highlands Park Volunteer Fire Department.

"We get paged out a lot while we are eating lunch," he said. At mid-day, everything is starting to dry out and somebody flips a cigarette out or a lawn mower can spark a grass fire.

"Right now everything is so dry, one little ember will start a fire," Gavagnie said. "We do a lot of training for it and make sure everything is up and running in good condition and just get ready for it."

Sebring Fire Department Chief Brad Batz said the number of calls has been steady year round the last couple of years, but the department is preparing for the wildfire season.

"The last couple of weeks we have being going through our state-mandated wild land firefighting certification," he said.

While on duty Tuesday, Sebring firefighter Kyle Yancey studied the online training course "Fire in the Field."

Florida is experiencing twice the wildfire activity of a year ago, and the danger is increasing every day, Florida Agriculture and Consumer Services Commissioner Charles H. Bronson said Tuesday.

Bronson is urging residents to do their part to prevent wildfires by avoiding any unnecessary outdoor burning. They should also check with their local Division of Forestry office or county government to determine if there is a local burn ban in effect.

A lack of substantial rainfall, especially in central and south Florida, coupled with recent freezes throughout the state, has left Florida's vegetation ripe for wildfires, he said. Wildfires can start easily, intensify quickly and move rapidly because of the current conditions.

The number of wildfires and the affected acreage in Highlands County has increased significantly compared to this time last year, according to the Florida Division of Forestry has

From Jan. 1 through March 10, 2008, the agency responded to 29 wildfires, which burned 600 acres. Thus far this year, the agency responded to 53 wildfires affecting 3,200 acres.

Firefighters from the Division of Forestry, Highlands Lakes and West Sebring volunteer fire departs battled a wildfire in the Riverdale area in northeastern Highlands County Tuesday afternoon. A Division of Forestry ranger said it was nearly contained late in the afternoon.

Highlands Today reporter Marc Valero can be reached at 386-5826 or mvalero@highlandstoday.com

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