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Since mid-2015, Zika virus has spread rapidly throughout South and Central America and the Caribbean, including U.S. territories such as Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. In July 2016, Florida became the first U.S. state to report local mosquito-borne transmission of the Zika virus.  Please see below for information on how to protect yourself from the Zika virus.  You can also follow this link,  Zika Virus Informational Poster, for a shareable pdf version of the information.

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Two Fire Inspectors and Four Lieutenants were sworn in during last nights regular board meeting. Please help us in welcoming Fire Inspector Stritenberger and Fire Inspector Wilkinson and Congratulating Lieutenant Grafmyre, Lieutenant Altstatt, Lieutenant Nichols and Lieutenant Manning on thier promotions.

Fire Marshal Lennon,  Fire Inspector Stritenberger, Fire Inspector Wilkinson and Fire Chief Cambareri

Lieutenant Grafmyre, Lieutenant Altstatt, Lieutenant Nichols and Lieutenant Manning

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Installing hurricane shutters can be time-consuming and difficult, so many residents leave some or all of them up year round or for the remainder of hurricane season after the initial storm has passed. While this might save some time and effort, it is not worth the threat it creates to your life safety.

During a hurricane, shutters protect your home from wind, rain, and flying debris. However, hurricane shutters can be unsafe and even deadly when left on your windows the rest of the year. If a fire were to occur in your home, how would you get out? And just as importantly, how would firefighters get in to help you?  Hurricane shutters are designed to withstand hurricane-force winds, and if they can keep debris from entering your home, they can keep firefighters from entering and you from escaping.

Did you know the majority of fires occur at night?  Keeping that in mind, if a fire broke out in your home while you were in your bedroom how would you escape?  Maybe you could use the bedroom door, but if the fire is outside of that door your only other way out is the window.  Devastatingly, there have been a number instances in Florida where firefighters haven’t been able to get into burning homes due to hurricane shutters being left on all year round.

In 2004, four children and an adult were killed in a house fire in Homestead, Florida. State records show that the windows were covered in plywood and burglar bars. That same year, a 53-year-old man was trapped inside his home in Fort Lauderdale during a fire. He had metal hurricane shutters on his home, and the fire department had trouble cutting through the shutters. In both situations, there was no threat of a hurricane or tropical storm.

Remember, as we enter into the typically more active part of our Hurricane Season, hurricane shutters should only be up when storms are threatening.  Hurricane shutters, when used correctly, aren’t dangerous. In fact, when deployed during a storm, hurricane shutters protect your home from rain and flying debris.  But in order to truly protect your home and your family, the best thing you can do is to only deploy hurricane shutters when there’s an imminent threat of a hurricane. For more information regarding hurricane preparedness please give us a call at 239-267-7525 or visit http://www.leegov.com/