Announcements

Osceola County, Florida - As part of the ongoing efforts by Osceola County Fire Rescue to keep our citizens and visitors informed of the dangers of wildfires, Fire Chief Richard Collins unveiled a new wildfire awareness campaign to the Board of County Commissioners.

"We're taking an aggressive stance during this wildfire season to keep our citizens and visitors informed of the dangers of fires, especially those occurring within the urban interface," explained Chief Collins. "We're targeting areas in the county that are prone to wildfires and getting the message out to our neighbors on how to protect their properties."

Elements of the campaign include:

• Daily website weather updates and fire conditions for Battalion Chiefs.
• A new Community Safety Center website - MySafety.osceola.org - for citizens to view current wildfire conditions, weather, burn ban information and other community news alerts such as Hazardous Materials spills, rabid animal on the loose and more.
• Wildfire awareness door hangers for homes and businesses located in the targeted areas of:
  • Bay Lake Estates/Ranch - east of St. Cloud
  • Suburban Estates - east of St. Cloud
  • New Eden on the Lake - east of St. Cloud
  • Austin Tindall area - Boggy Creek Road
  • Happy Trails - west of Kissimmee
  • Sullivan Road - west of Kissimmee
  • Poinciana - Chestnut Street & WDW Wilderness Preserve
  • Poinciana - Marigold Avenue area
• Community burn ban restriction signs will be placed at the entrance of the targeted areas, and as neighborhood fire stations and other public buildings.
• Electronic burn ban graphics in the Board of County Commission chambers that is displayed prior to each weekly meeting and may be viewed by those citizens attending the meeting, watching the live video at home on the Internet and re-broadcasts of the meeting on television.
• Distribution of the Firewise brochure "Blueprint for Safety" at community events.
• Firewise Public Service Announcements airing on Access Osceola, Access St. Cloud and local media outlets.

"We've all seen the recent news reports of the devastating wildfires in Brevard and Volusia counties. Through the efforts of our Fire Rescue personnel to keep the public informed of the dangers of wildfires, we are doing all we can to prevent the same thing from happening in Osceola County," stated Chief Collins.

For more information on the Wildfire Awareness Campaign, contact Osceola County Fire Rescue at 407-742-9017.