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Wildland fire protection is the primary responsibility for Florida Forest Service personnel in Indian River County. The Florida Forest Service activities in Indian River County include wildfire detection and suppression, private and public landowner assistance (plowing or harrowing pre -suppression firelines, prescribed burning, etc.), and conducting wildfire prevention programs. The following is a breakdown of fire management activities performed by the Florida Forest Service in Indian River County for Fiscal Year 2014/2015. The Florida Forest Service suppressed 17 wildfires in Indian River County which burned 111.5 acres. Lightning accounted for 47.06 percent and incendiary accounted for 17.65 percent of the total fire starts. A total of 756 burn authorizations were issued to customers in Indian River County. Burn types included 1,764 piles and 13,730 acres. For fiscal year 2014/2015, Indian River County was assessed $13,814.36 for fire management services on 197,348 acres. To reduce the threat of wildfires, the Florida Forest Service in Indian River County worked closely with Indian River County Conservation to treat several Wildland Urban Interface areas in Sebastian by roller chopping, mowing, and plowing on approximately 100 acres. The Florida Forest Service cooperates with Indian River County Fire Rescue and Florida Park Service by working together to extinguish wildfires as well as leasing federal excess vehicles and equipment. Currently the Florida Park Service in Sebastian has two (2).heavy trucks that are outfitted with fire suppression equipment. Fire Prevention programs are essential to reduce the occurrence of human -caused fires. The Florida Forest Service has been tremendously successful in using Smokey Bear Programs to teach children about fire safety. Teens and adults are also educated to use fire responsibly and taught the difference between good fires and bad fires. Last year the wildfire prevention message was taken to The Firefighters Fair, Frog Leg Festival, and Tax Collectors office (Sebastian), several pre -schools, and many local events in the community. In all activities, our mission is to protect and manage the forest resources of Florida, ensuring that they are available for future generations. 21 Page 15