ENGLEWOOD – Brush fire season is upon us and the Englewood Fire Department is partnering with the Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office to efficiently fight the flames.


We’re in the peak of brush fire season here on the Suncoast, Division Chief of Englewood Fire Department John Stubbs says it’s just getting started.


“We are in a red flag where everything’s dry,” said Stubbs.


Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office and the Englewood Fire Department are cross training, preparing for what could be a grueling brush fire season.


“It’s just to utilize the resources that we have calling Air 1 from Charlotte County saying hey this is what we need and this is what we need to do,” said Stubbs.




Strapping into Air firefighters get familiar with the areas they cover from a birds eye view. Deputy Pilot Shane Engelauf, is in command.


“We have a 250 gallon firefighting tank. It has a snorkel on it , that sucks 300 gallons per minute up into this tank and we’re able to go over the fire and drop that water on the fire,” said Engelauf.


Engelauf says they are in constant communication with firefighters, ensuring they hit their target accurately.


“They are talking to us on the radio all the time, telling us where the smoke clouds are,” said Engelauf.



“We could say hey listen you have a little bit of a flare up on your left flank, or right flan. They can see where we’re coming from and we can see where they’re coming from,” said Stubbs.