Fire Mitigation is land management through prescribed burning
and other means of land management for the purpose of reducing
the fire risk to residential and commercial areas. Additionally,
Emergency Services provides education program on how to make
your house safe from a wild land fire.Sarasota County as a
FIREWISE Community Following the devastating wild land fires and
the loss of over 1,400 homes in California and Florida in 1985,
the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) and the USDA
Forest Service met to help define the phenomenon that has become
known as the wild land/urban interface. A cooperative agreement
was signed in 1986, to shape the national Wild land Urban
Interface Fire Protection Initiative. Part of the mission of
this Initiative was to sponsor the development and delivery of
numerous conferences, workshops, publications, and videotapes to
address specific audiences on protecting homes from wild land
fires. Through the efforts of many the FIREWISE concepts were
developed, based on the conviction that wisdom and knowledge are
the prime forces that can help reduce the hazards in the
interface.
The Sarasota County FIREWISE Coalition was officially formed on
August 22, 2001, in Sarasota County by Emergency Services.
Sarasota County took a leadership role in coordinating and
developing a strategic approach to land management and wild fire
mitigation throughout Sarasota County. The members of the
FIREWISE Coalition represent virtually every area of the
community.
The objective of this Coalition was to frame out their
overall objectives, and to determine where we should go as a
community. The use of prescribed fire is considered an essential
tool that has many benefits to a community. From a
multi-disciplined perspective prescribed fire is conducted to
accomplish three major objectives:
- Mitigate the fire threat within the urban interface
- Mitigate the fire fuel within the wilderness area
- Management and restoration of natural habitat
The Sarasota County FIREWISE Coalition is currently made up of
approximately 50 members from all areas of the community. This
group comes together on a monthly basis to identify and work
cooperatively on the areas of the County where the highest risks
of wild land fire may occur, and to continually educate the
Community in the benefits of being a FIREWISE community.
Sarasota County Emergency Services has a Fire Mitigation
Officer and Environmental Specialist on staff to oversee the
prescribed burn program throughout the County. Their efforts
have been successful in bringing Sarasota County closer to
becoming a FIREWISE Community. The FIREWISE program has been
enthusiastically embraced by this Community Fire mitigation is
land management through prescribed burning and other means of
land management for the purpose of reducing the fire risk to
residential and commercial areas. Additionally, Emergency
Services provides educational programs on how to make your house
safe from a wild land fire.
Urban Volunteers
The Urban Volunteer program is a “ride along” experience,
supplementing the manpower in career stations west of the urban
service boundary. Applications for volunteer firefighters are
accepted annually in October. Applicants are required to
complete 160 hours of Firefighter One training and 40 hours of
First Responder training prior to filing an application.
Volunteers must also complete training in Emergency Vehicle
Operations, blood-borne pathogens, and firefighter survival.
Firefighting One is offered through Nokomis Fire Department. For
information on the volunteer program contact the call center
861-5000.
