Alberto's rain didn't wash away possibility of fires, officials say

It was early May when a brush fire broke out about 200 feet from Judy White’s home on Morgan Road.

The East Naples Fire District was able to put out the fire before it damaged anything, but White said the fire left her concerned about the safety of her home.

“If that fire had gotten into those melaleuca trees, we would have lost our home,” White said pointing to a number of trees on the side of her house. “I’m not looking forward to hurricane season, but I am looking forward to the rainy season.”

The first six months of 2006 have been some of the driest on recent record. According to the National Weather Service in Miami, Collier County has only received 8.38 inches of rain this year through Friday. That’s 7.92 inches less than normal and 16.19 inches less than last year at the same time.

The dry weather has led to an increase in brush fires throughout Southwest Florida, said Mike Weston, senior forester with the state Division of Forestry.

“This is definitely a heavier year,” Weston said. “It’s not yet a record-breaking year, but we’re starting to challenge the numbers from some really bad years.”

Before Tropical Storm Alberto hit the state, many forecasters were optimistic it would dump enough rain on Southwest Florida to lessen drought conditions in the area. But Alberto didn’t significantly impact the whole area, Weston said, and Collier County only received about an inch of rain.

Add to that the debris left over from hurricanes Wilma and Charley and you’ve got an environment conducive to fire.

“What we really need to have happen is the daily rainstorms,” Weston said. “These big storm events, we do get a lot of rain, but it either runs off on the surface or it’s absorbed into the ground. It’s not really hydrating those fuels like they need to be.”

Alberto’s heavy rains early last week were slowly canceled out by the hot, dry weather later in the week, said Bonita Springs Fire District spokeswoman Debbi Redfield. She said the district has not had many brush fires since but cautioned that doesn’t mean the fire danger has passed.

In past years, the fire threat in Bonita Springs did not substantially lessen until a few weeks into the rainy season, Redfield said. She said the ground first needs to be saturated enough that the land is mostly immune to the afternoon storms and the lightning they bring.

Golden Gate firefighters have already responded to 133 vegetation fires this year, one fewer than all of last year, said spokesman Victor Hill. Golden Gate firefighters responded to 117 vegetation fires in 2002, 129 in 2003 and 156 in 2004.

“We’ve had the busiest year in five years,” Hill said. “We’re pretty confident that we’re on pace to rival 2004 or else surpass it.”

Though brush fires occur throughout the year in Southwest Florida, Hill said, the brush fire season runs roughly from the end of hurricane season in November through June. The peak of the season usually runs from March through June, he said.

The rainy season usually kicks in around the end of June, but that doesn’t mean the threat of fire is over, Hill said.

“When the rain comes we end up chasing a lot of fires that are the result of lightning strikes,” Hill said. “The guys tend to get inordinately busy at this time of the year because they’re constantly driving from one lightning strike to the next.”

Another reason firefighters are fighting more fires has to do with the increasing population, Hill said. Fires that used to be allowed to burn out on their own are now fought aggressively, he said.

“Our tactics have to change in response to the population,” Hill said. “Now we have to put more fires out because we have a lot more homes to protect.”

The East Naples Fire District has also had a busy brush fire season, said spokesman Greg Speers. Through Friday, East Naples firefighters had responded to 123 brush fires and 46 median fires this year.

Through all of 2005, they responded to 91 brush fires and 50 median fires, Speers said.

The busy season has strained the department’s resources and taken a toll on firefighters, he said.

“On those brush fires the guys can be out there for hours on end,” Speers said. “They don’t get any rest and can barely take a break to eat. So, yeah, our guys are very glad it’s almost over.”

Even though the rainy season is just around the corner, experts say people still need to take precautions to protect themselves, their homes and their property from fires. One of the most important precautions people can take is to maintain at least a 30-foot buffer between their homes and dense vegetation, Hill said.

“The idea is it gives you a kind of buffer between you and the woods,” Hill said. “Your home will be protected and if we do have to go in, we have room to move around.”

Other things people can do to protect their homes from fire include cleaning out gutters, making sure yards and roofs are clear of debris, trimming branches, keeping water at all campfires, keeping cigarette butts out of dry grass and getting a license before doing any burning.

“A lot of brush fires are caused by illegal burning and some of them are caused by juveniles playing with matches and fire,” Hill said. “With nature you have to deal with lightning, with man you have to deal with people making bad choices.”

Weston said people need to remember brush fire season is not over yet and they shouldn’t let their guard down.

“We’re definitely not out of the woods yet,” Weston said. “When we start to get those daily storms, that’s when we can start letting our breath out a little bit.”

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Staff writer Nicholas P. Alajakis contributed to this report.