SEMINOLE COUNTY, Fla. – Here in Central Florida, fire crews work year-round to prevent fast-spreading wildfires. They purposely set fire to some areas to burn off vegetation that could become an intense fire if left alone.
Parts of northeast Seminole County have hundreds of acres of forests that have been there for thousands of years, but there is now a lot of new development with homes and businesses nearby. County officials use controlled burns to try to prevent raging fires from nearby forests.
News 6′s Laverne McGee spoke with a biologist from the Seminole County Natural Lands Program.
“Florida naturally burns. And when it doesn’t burn for a long time, it will eventually burn, and it won’t be good,” Ron Chicone said. “So regular low-intensity fires are a good thing. "
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Chicone said that something like what is happening with the devastating fires in California is always a concern for this region.
“It’s always a concern,” he added. “And we had that previously. I believe back in ‘98, we had iron fires, and more recently, we had some major wildfires here.”
Chicone said that low-intensity fires are less damaging, and they happen all over the state.
A team of Seminole County firefighters were at the Lake Proctor Wilderness Area trying to do a prescribed burn; however, they had to postpone it because the vegetation there was too moist.
Seminole County officials are hoping they can try again for a prescribed burn next week.
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