Fire Rescue and county monitoring weather daily

Public Information Officer Jeremy Robshaw, who regularly reports fire activity to the Historic City News desk, said in a statement filed yesterday, that his office remains in communication with County Administration and that together they are closely monitoring conditions and weather reports for our area.

“This week’s fire on SR-206 is the only occurrence growing larger than 10 acres,” Robshaw said.

St. Johns County Fire Rescue admits an increase in brush fire activity over the past several days, however, most of the fires have been contained to small areas.

At the current time, a twice extended “burn ban” has been lifted.

“St. Johns County Fire Rescue strongly discourages residents from participation in outdoor burning activities,” Robshaw told Historic City News. “Recent rainfalls have decreased the drought level throughout St. Johns County, but numerous freeze’s and falling relative humidity’s each afternoon have kept fire conditions very unstable for our area.”

Some helpful tips to keep your home safe from fire are listed below:

• Create a defensible space surrounding your home clear of debris or brush.
• Clean debris such as leaves or limbs from roof areas or gutters.
• Prune low hanging tree limbs to 6 – 10 feet.
• Have an outside water source that can reach all sides of your home.
• Install less flammable landscaping in your yard and around your home.

“St. Johns County Fire Rescue will continue working together with the Department of Forestry to provide for a rapid response to all reported brush fires,” Robshaw said. “We will ensure that a thorough “mop up” is completed before we leave any brush fire scene in order to reduce the risk of any re-kindle.”