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“Dry” season — and so brush fire season — has begun.

The Lehigh Acres Fire Control and Rescue District urges resident to take care.

The fire district warns residents to be extra diligent when it comes to keeping a defensible space around their property and trimming overgrown bushes and trees.

The dry weather and lack of rain provide the perfect mixture for wildfires to start, officials said.

Lehigh Acres is seeing an increase this season and firefighters are reminding everyone to stay alert.

Dried brush can create a potentially dangerous problem, especially in Lehigh which is made up of approximately 90,000 vacant lots.

District spokesperson Katie Heck recommends taking extra care when dealing with anything that can be flammable.

“A lot of brush fires are started by something that people do. It can be driving an ATV through an overgrown area; 4-wheeling is popular out here, throwing sparks and sometimes leaking some flammable liquid we do see that happen,” said Heck.

Other suggestions made by the district are to keep lawns mowed and to get rid of anything that may be lying around the yard.

The Lehigh Acres Fire Control and Rescue District held its monthly meeting on Tuesday, Jan. 26.

In addition to “dry” season, the meeting focused primarily on the recent ground breaking of the fire district’s sixth fire station 106 and the upcoming ground breaking of station 102.

“They have started clearing the land at the site for the new station 102, and the station 106 site is coming along well,” Heck said.

A recent SAFER grant helped the district to bring on three waves of new recruits who will eventually staff station 106. To bring quicker service and response times to the southwest section of Sunshine Boulevard fire personnel will temporarily stay in a trailer located onsite of the future station.

“Our January class of recruits have been assigned to their respective shifts and are on the road! We will have one more class starting in February, and this will conclude the hiring related to the station 106 expansion and SAFER grant, Heck said.

Under new business, LAFCRD commissioners discussed a real estate acquisition with Lennar Homes.

According to Heck, the Lennar Homes land purchase is still in the works and the negotiation team is still working on the agreement with Lennar Homes.

“If approved, the land purchase agreement could be used to provide space for a future station, either 107 or 108. This is still to be determined,” Heck said.

The district’s regular meetings are held at Station 104, 3102 16th Street SW, Lehigh Acres.

For more information on fire prevention or Lehigh Acres Fire Control and Rescue District’s upcoming meetings, visit https://www.lehighfd.com/