North Port continues responding to brush fires

NORTH PORT, Fla. (WWSB) - North Port Fire Rescue continues responding to brush fires popping up across the city.

North Port Fire Rescue Chief Scott Lane said they are responding to small and larger fires.

“Over the weekend, we’ve had a couple of two three-acre fires and of course this one behind me we had a couple of weeks ago which was close to fifty acres,” said Lane. “That day was just really windy and the fire burned rapidly really fast and we had a lot of buildings that we had to protect. So again, these conditions are prime for anything.”

The City of North Port took to Twitter to post that the majority of the fires are popping up in medians on roadways most likely from cigarette butts thrown from car windows. Chief Lane explained there are a lot of ways the fires can pop up, especially with favorable conditions.

“The conditions are there waiting for the fires to start up,” said Lane. “From cigarettes, discarded cigarettes, could be discarded campfires, un-attended campfires or cooking fires.”

North Port resident Justin Willis added that drivers need to be smarter about where their cigarette butts end up.

“Put it out in a water bottle,” said Willis. “Put it out somewhere. Be responsible. I’m not telling anyone what to do just be responsible with your cigarette butts.”

Chief Lane said the dry period will continue until the area gets significant rain. Until then he’s urging all residents to call 911 when they see a fire and to be smart.