Okeechobee firefighters responded to the following calls last week:

• Okeechobee City Fire Department responded to 14 EMS/medical, two fire related, eight motor vehicle, one public assist, two false alarms, five canceled and one aircraft standby calls between April 5 and April 11.

• So far this year, Okeechobee County Fire Rescue has responded to 1,729 EMS/medical, 82 fire related, 144 motor vehicle accidents, 50 aircraft standbys, 92 canceled and 138 miscellaneous calls. Out of a possible 1,429 transports, 119 were refused.

• On April 10 at approximately 6:15 p.m., OCFR responded to multiple calls regarding a fire on the Prairie. En route, they saw a large column of smoke in the area of 700A and nothing visible on the Viking Prairie. They sent some trucks to each area as a precaution. When they arrived at the fire on Northwest 176th Avenue, they discovered a large backing fire in heavy pines. The landowner had started back burning and the crew began extinguishing hot spots. Approximately 10 acres burned. The second fire was off of 288th Street and was limited to a half acre. Both scenes were turned over to the forest service.

• On April 12 at approximately 4 a.m., OCFR responded to a call on U.S. 441 Southeast regarding an outdoor rubbish fire. When they arrived, they found a fire approximately 4’x4’ in size located 10 feet from the home. They extinguished the fire and advised the owner of the burn rules.

• On April 12 at approximately 8 p.m., OCFR responded to a call regarding a grass fire on Northwest 240th Street. When they arrived, they found an area approximately 30’x30’ burning. The cause was determined to be a radio transmitter wire shorting out and catching a pole on fire. Power was turned off and the fire was extinguished.