SWFL under ‘very high,’ ‘extreme’ fire danger

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FORT MYERS, Fla. Lee, Charlotte, DeSoto and Hardee counties are in “extreme fire danger” while Hendry County is “very high” and Collier and Sarasota counties are under a “high” fire danger warning, the Florida Fire Service said Thursday.

“This means that fires start quickly, spread furiously, and burn intensely,” the fire service said in a statement. “Development into high intensity burning will usually be faster and occur from smaller fires than in the very high fire danger class.”

The warning comes as multiple brush fires have burned through Southwest Florida in recent weeks, including one that shut down I-75 in Charlotte County on Wednesday and another in April that scorched an area equivalent to half the size of Fort Myers.

Gov. Rick Scott issued a state of emergency in April due to multiple wildfires burning across the state.

Multiple municipalities across the region have issued burn bans, which prohibits outdoor burning, including campfires, bonfires and trash burning.

The fire service warned residents that every fire has the potential to become large and to “expect extreme, erratic behavior.”

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