Firefighters on Oahu have responded to almost as many brush fires this year as in all of 2014.

Since January, the Honolulu Fire Department has handled 225 brush, wildland or grass fires, compared with a total of 230 last year, according to data through Wednesday.

But those figures are still lower than 2013, when the department reported 302 brush fires.

The majority of fires in 2014 occurred between April and September. This year, May racked up the highest number of brush fires so far at 54, while July totaled the most last year with 41.

Fire Capt. David Jenkins said there are several factors that contribute to the number of brush fires in any given year, including weather, population growth and land conditions.

“We want people to be on the lookout year-round, islandwide,” Jenkins said. “We don’t want people to relax.”

In the past five years, more than 9,000 acres on Oahu have burned in nearly 2,000 wildland fires, HFD reported. The department has used 50,000 firefighter hours to fight the blazes.

The causes of all but one of the brush fires reported from January of last year were undetermined.

The National Fire Protection Association found that between 2007 and 2011, local fire departments responded to an average of about 334,200 brush, grass and forest fires per year. One in five of those fires was set intentionally.

Residents can help prevent and prepare for brush fires by removing flammable materials within 30 feet of homes, pruning trees so the lowest branches are 6 to 10 feet from the ground, and creating and practicing a family evacuation plan, according to HFD.

Pablo Beimler, education and outreach coordinator of the Hawaii Wildfire Management Organization, said tossing cigarette butts on the ground or the heat from a car parked near or on top of dry grass could trigger a fire. He said the organization found a correlation between population growth and an increase in brush fires.

The organization hopes to ramp up its outreach efforts, particularly in Waianae, which is typically dry, to engage residents about brush fire prevention and preparation through community action programs, he said.

“The big help is that a lot of the events (brush fires) are actually preventable,” Beimler said. “We work with kids a lot. We think it’s a good way to start in terms of getting prevention methods out there.”

According to the organization, communities on Oahu especially at risk from brush fires include the Leeward Coast area. HFD data show that from January of last year, more than 100 occurred in Waianae, about 50 in Kapolei and nearly 40 in Waipahu.

Jack Legal, a 20-year resident of Makakilo, said he tries to water his yard regularly and reminds others to be careful of their surroundings.

“You don’t know where the fire is going. You can never tell,” said Legal, a real-estate broker and second vice chairman of the Makakilo/Kapolei/Honokai Hale Neighborhood Board. “Just kind of remind them, especially if they have families (and) small kids, not to play with matches and fire.”

Firefighters on Wednesday responded to a brush fire above Nanakuli Homestead.

During the Independence Day weekend, a brush fire near Royal Kunia Country Club prompted police to close part of Kunia Road.

On May 18, a Makakilo brush fire threatened nearby homes and prompted about 50 residents to evacuate to a shelter at Makakilo Community Park. That fire spread to about 80 acres across a grassy area adjacent to the H-1 freeway, but no homes were burned.

About two weeks prior, firefighters battled another brush fire on the periphery of Waipahu Intermediate School, where about 5 acres of brush burned. No structures were damaged and no injuries were reported.

HFD is also looking into the cause of three brush fires along the H-1 freeway in Kapolei on June 28 that may have been intentionally set. The blazes were about a quarter-mile apart, but HFD reported no homes or structures were threatened.

In August, HFD confirmed that a massive brush fire in upper Makakilo was accidentally started by two young boys who were playing with a lighter.

Richard Landford, a Maili resident, said he thinks the community has done a better job over the years with educating kids about the dangers of playing with fire.

Longtime Nanakuli resident Hanalei Aipoalani also emphasized the importance of helping residents to be aware of their surroundings.

“I think it’s more along the lines of having those safety measures … being more mindful in terms of what their children are doing,” said Aipoalani, a member of the Nanakuli/Maili Neighborhood Board. “I think for us, it’s the kuleana to take care of the place.”